


Ichirou's Life Story

by ARGMEHO



Category: Original Work
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe, American Football, Anal Sex, Angels, Angst and Tragedy, Bisexual Male Character, Brother/Brother Incest, Brotherly Bonding, Bullying, Cheating, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/M, Growing Up, Heartbreaking, Insecurity, Lies, M/M, Making Friends, Mpreg, Multi, Oral Sex, Organized Crime, Partying, Plotty, Prostitution, Rape, Rock and Roll, School Life, Slice of Life, Some Humor, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex, Vampires, child rape, finding out, hard choices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 53
Words: 226,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26647354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARGMEHO/pseuds/ARGMEHO
Summary: Ichirou Matsumoto, a vampire child, brought up in a world of lies, deception, and abuse. This is his story, the story of Ichirou Matsumoto. From the beginning to the end, Ichirou will be cautious, he will find love and lose it, and he will do things that were never meant to happen.Follow along as I recreate Ichirou's true story from a forum to story, bring up triggers that may affect some readers. There is a lot to warn about so as a reader you must be cautious. I will try to tag, but it hard to tag everything before it's posted.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Favorite





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers,
> 
> I welcome you to read this story of one of my Original Male Characters, Ichirou Matsumoto.  
> He has been around since I started roleplaying on forums quite a few years ago. No longer active with roleplaying on forums, he is still my go-to character when playing D&D.  
> I have decided to bring you into his world, to get a better understanding of him and hopefully, create a story that will please some readers, who like a bit of a darker theme.  
> This is his original story, the story that shaped him into the character he is today.
> 
> If you haven't read any 'A New World' stories, that's okay. You will notice Ichirou part takes in that story as well, though the story isn't as dark as this one may be. He is still the same character with a different background in that story.
> 
> I will welcome any comments, I know a lot of what I am about to write will confuse or frustrate the reader, but I promise to clear it up. Chapters may not be as long, but I hope to not displease those that choose to read this story. 
> 
> Again, I suck with Warnings and Tagging, so if you think I should add a warning or a tag to this story, please help me by informing me to add.
> 
> Thank you and please enjoy the story.

“Thank you! You’ve all been great!”

The words were shouted out into the microphone after the band had finished their last set. A man standing on the center of the stage had short black hair, spiked up with gel, and haunting red eyes that scanned the crowd. His upper body was inked up with many tattoos and he wore a pair of black denim jeans. With his musical instrument, a guitar bass, over his shoulder, he switched the microphone off and unplugged his bass as he turned around to his band members who were making their way off the stage, waving to the crowd. He followed after them backstage before a stage crew came up to him and he handed his bass off to them.

“Wow, what a show!” The man with the red eyes looked towards his band member, a drummer who was excited about their show. “We gotta come back here again and play. The crowd really gets into it.”

The man smirked at the enthusiasm of the drummer. “Yes, we will come back here when we tour next time. As long as the manager sets it up.” He was quite pleased with the setup of the stage and the crowd. Standing center stage, he only noticed a few brawls, but they didn’t interrupt the show, at least. He was the bassist and vocalist in the band, with his drummer, piano player, and guitar player by his side on stage.

“Mr, Matsumoto. Can I have a word with you?” The man turned around to face a sharp dressed man, suit and tie, holding a clipboard. He walked over to him and looked down at the paper on the clipboard. “Tomorrow night’s show is being pushed for the day after. Seems something has come up with electrical issues. All ticket holders will still be able to gain access to the show without an issue, but there will be no meet and greet, just the show and off to the next city. I’m sorry, but we may have to reimburse some ticket holders with the money gained from this show tonight. I just need you to sign off that you understand the issue and will allow us to reimburse those ticket holders that come up to the box office.”

The man looked down, read the fine printing that was there as the sharp-dressed man spoke to him. This is an issue that should be dealt with by his manager, but as his manager wasn’t there with them, he was the next authority to sign off on any issues. It was his band, after all, his solo career band. But even with a solo career, he still decided to put a band together and had his members recognized. He wasn’t always the center of attention and he made sure to include his members.

“Hold on, I’m going to discuss this with the band. I would be more than happy to sign off on it, just need to make sure the guys understand before I do.” The man told the sharp-dressed man as he headed towards the band members who were getting refreshments, drinking water, and trying to wipe the sweat off their bodies. “Hey guys, there seems to be an issue with tomorrow night’s show. They had it pushed to the day after, but the thing is, there will be no meet and greet.”

The piano player in the group looked at the man with concern. “There is more to this, isn’t there? They pushed the show to the day after, but what’s the real concern that you have to come to talk to us about?” They knew he could just sign off on anything, but if it includes them, that’s the only time the man came to them.

“Reimbursing ticket holders with the money made from tonight’s show.” The man told them straight out what the issue was. He saw them looking down and thinking it over in their head, before saying anything.

The guitarist lifted his chin and patted the man on the shoulder. “Does this mean we can go to the after-party tonight?” They knew after all of their shows, there was always a bar or a club that held an after-show party, they rarely ever went, but when they did go, the bar or club was grateful for all the money they made from just their appearance alone.

The man nodded his head. “Yes, we can go to the after-party, as long as you guys don’t screw up.” The man smirked, showing the band members he was joking around with them, but still being serious.

“Then hurry up and sign and we can get rolling.” The drummer was pushing the man back towards the sharp-dressed man. “We need to shower and get cleaned up. I call the shower first.”

The man shook his head as he walked back over to the sharp-dressed man. “I’ll sign it off.” He reached his hands out for the clipboard and pen and signed his name, Kazayuki Matsumoto.

* * *

After dealing with the stage crew, getting the bus packed up, and everyone had washed and showered the band was ready to hit the town. Kazayuki, the lead in the band, decided he would go with the rest of the band members to the club that was holding the after-show party. He wasn’t much for crowds or partying, but his members were dragging him along into the limo that was taking them there. He had suggested just taking the taxi, but they suckered him into getting a limo to arrive in style.

Word must have gotten around that the band was showing up, because as the limo pulled up in front of the club, a crowd had gathered there, and not just fans either. A few press members had shown up. They weren’t really a big deal, but Kazayuki knew why the press showed up.

“Okay guys, now remember. Behave, don’t get too wild.” Kazayuki was looking at his band members. “I see the press here and you know they will write up a bad story in their city’s newspaper if we cause any problems. I don’t want to have to bail any of you out of jail.” He wore a smirk on his face that seemed to brighten up his red eyes.

“Wow, man. You are starting to sound like the manager.” The drummer pointed out. “You have enough money, why not just open up a record label company for yourself and manage yourself.” The rest of the members chuckled at his words.

“You know why.” Kazayuki shook his head with the smirk still plastered on his face. “Alright, let’s make tonight about partying and relaxing!” He cheered them on just as the limo door opened, the other band members got out first, cheering and waving at the fans as a few bouncers kept the crowd back before Kazayuki stepped out. He heard the difference in the pitch of the crowd. He knew they were cheering and hollering at him more than his band members, but he didn’t seem to care and his band members didn’t care either.

As they walked into the club, it was already bouncing with a lot of dancers and drinkers. There was a light show happening on the dance floor. The atmosphere was something Kazayuki didn’t like, but his members were happy about it. He liked more of a relaxing time, sitting at a bar with a beer in hand, and enjoying the music on the jukebox. This was far from it. A staff member came up to them. “I will show you to the private booth and get your drink orders. We want to make sure that none of the customers overcrowd you.”

As they were lead to the private booth set aside for them, he noticed other booths there with high paying members of society, dressed in suits and ties with party girls at their sides enjoying the night. Kazayuki only chuckled to himself, thinking in his mind that big daddy didn’t want to go partying, but his girls did, so he had to escort them to the club.

Having drinks in their hands, the guys seemed quite relaxed chatting about upcoming shows and past shows they had done. A few girls had come up to them and ask if they would like the company. Of course, the band members were happier to have the company. Kazayuki excused himself and looked down at his watch as he went to the men’s washroom. It was past one o'clock, that would mean they had been there for a few hours already. He really wasn’t feeling like staying any longer, so he decided he would go for a walk.

When he went to tell the guys about leaving, he noticed a few lines of cocaine on the table already. That wasn’t there when he left. He looked up at the drummer who noticed he returned and pointed towards one of the girls. Kazayuki shook his head. “I’m going for a walk, be back.” The drummer nodded his head and waved Kazayuki off.

Putting on his leather jacket, Kazayuki managed to slip out without anyone really noticing him. A lot of party people looked like they were there more for the clubbing then the after rock show party, which was fine by Kazayuki. Just meant he could get out without being surrounded by a girl or two.

Stepping outside the chill in the air was a relief for him. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up for himself. The smooth taste of nicotine hit his lung with the crisp air and it was like a relaxer for him. He started walking down the street, not paying much attention to where he was going, but he was pointing out landmarks for himself to make it back to the club.

Stopping on the corner of the street, waiting for the light to turn so he could walk, he was approached from behind. A hand tapped his shoulder and Kazayuki turned around to see one hell of a lady standing there. A black coat over her shoulders, a mini red dress with fishnet tights and black stilettos. She had wavy blond hair and deep brown eyes with velvet red lips.

“Sorry, are you Kazayuki? The lead singer in the band that played here tonight?” She seemed a little nervous to be asking him that question. Well, he could say no and disappoint her, but somehow Kazayuki was interested. He nodded his head, but before he could usher in a word, her nervous face turned to a smiling bright one. “I’m a big fan of your music. I was at the concert tonight enjoying myself. You guys really know how to get the crowd moving. Your rock music is so hypnotizing, can I have your autograph?” She reached into her small little purse that looked like it wouldn’t have been able to hold much, but she made a pen and a piece of paper come out of her purse.

“Sure, anything for a fan,” Kazayuki smirked as he dropped his cigarette, stomped it out with the toe of his shoe, and took the pen and paper. “Who should I make this out to?” During meet and greets, he would have to ask this question, it made it seem more personal to the fan.

“Um, can you just say to my lady friend? I’m not supposed to give out my real name, sorry.” She seemed nervous again and looked over her shoulder, which made Kazayuki glance with his eyes over her, there was a black sedan down the street.

“No problem.” Kazayuki clicked the pen and brought it to the paper and wrote down on it.

‘To my lady friend, thank you for your support. Kazayuki Matsumoto.’

Kazayuki handed the pen and paper back to her. He could tell she was excited about it, but something still seemed off. “What are you doing on the street alone at this time of night? You must be cold.” Kazayuki decided to make a little small talk, hoping to calm down her nerves.

“Oh, I’m working, you see.” A light blush appeared on her face, the only way Kazayuki could tell was from the street lamp lighting her face. Now, Kazayuki understood why she couldn’t tell him her name and probably didn’t want to tell him her street name, because she wanted it to be personal, the autograph. “Though I probably should get back to working, I don’t want to make my employer angry.” She had a nervous laugh in her voice.

Not knowing before what she was doing on the street, why there was a black sedan down the street that made her nervous, Kazayuki put it all together in his head. “This street is kind of dead, so why not offer?” He didn’t want to sound rude, but he could guess why she didn’t want to offer because she was a fan of his and only wanted an autograph.

“Oh, um.” She was lost for words. Kazayuki figured out what she was doing on the street, and now her heart was racing. Kazayuki could almost hear it. Being stuck between being a fan and working the streets probably made her not consider offering, afraid she would scare him away. He stood there, with a smirk on his face, waiting for her to make up her mind. “Um, sir. Would you like some company tonight, I’m available for you.”

Words that sounded like they were scripted into her, Kazayuki noticed her nervousness was gone. “Yes, I would like some company. Is there a starting price?” Kazayuki winked at her, making the young lady blush.

“It’s the regular price of $500 an hour, vaginal and oral. Though, if you would just like oral, that’s $200.” She smiled a sweet smile, one that made Kazayuki feel like she was reeling him in.

“I’ll take the $500.” Kazayuki nodded his head as she reached for his hand. He took her hand and let her lead him down the street. He could feel the slight shake in her step as she leans in against his arm. Her palm was slightly sweaty, but he knew it was probably because of her nervous behavior before. She had led them down the street, to a small love hotel. The black sedan that was on the opposite side of the road had turned around and stayed far enough away, but was following them to the love hotel.

Once inside, Kazayuki looked around, seeing that the place was a lot cleaner than usual places. Yes, he had been to quite a few love hotels in his days. He walked over to the receptionist. “One room, make it two hours.” He already knew what he was doing, and the lady beside him seemed in shock, as her eyes grew wide with excitement.

“Here is your key. Upstairs second last door on the right.” The receptionist didn’t even bother to ask him to pay, as they looked at the lady by Kazayuki’s side and knew she was going to be paying afterward.

Kazayuki took them both up the stairs, looking at the room number on the key and looking at the numbers on the doors. He stopped when he reached the right door number, still holding hands with the young lady, and opened the door. He let her walk in first, as he walked in and shut the door, locking it.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you my name.” The lady looked up at him as she removed her black coat showing off her curves in her tight mini red dress.

Shaking his head, Kazayuki reached out and placed his hands on her shoulder. “The name you give me isn’t really your name, so let’s skip that. You know my name and that’s all you need to know.” He leans in and started kissing her neck softly.

“Alright, there are some rules I should go through first.” She purred as he found her sweet spot on her neck and nipped at it.

Kazayuki pulled back, smirking at her. “No leaving permanent marks. Nothing goes in without a condom. And when you say stop, it means stop.”

“Well, I guess you have done this before.” She laughed lightly. “I guess I don’t have to tell you, you need to pay up before the clothes come off.”

Kazayuki nodded his head. “Though I can pay you now, I don’t want the clothes off just yet. I’m paying for two hours.” He gave her a wink as she stepped back from him. He reached into his back pocket where his wallet was and pulled out $1000. He handed it to her and she turned around to count it out on the small table in the room.

“Good, you have your two hours worth.” She turned back to Kazayuki as she had placed the money in her small purse and pulled out a foil of condoms. “I hope you don’t mind but I wrap it before I do anything orally.”

Kazayuki shook his head. “Not a problem.” He walked over to the bed and sat down. She came over and placed the foil of condoms on the bed and sat beside him. This may be her job, but she was showing a bit of nervousness, he knew why. “Just relax and I’ll do all the work.” He told her as his hand went to the back of her head and his other arm went around her waist. He brought her closer and kissed her neck again. He found that sweet spot again and heard her give a small purr as his nipped at her neck. His hand slid from her head down to cup the side of her face. Kissing up her neck to her jawline, he pulled back. “Do what you like, I’m not going to stop you.”

At his words, she nodded her head and moved to sit on his lap. “I usually don’t kiss, but may I break my rule with you tonight?” She was biting her lower lip. It seemed she was wary of herself.

“If that’s your way of asking if I have anything, no. I don’t have anything and I get tested regularly. We can kiss if that’s what you want to do.” Of course, they would be doing more than that, but this was to ease her tensions.

Giving her his answer, it came as a surprise when she moved forward and clashed their mouths together, but Kazayuki was quick to respond as he moved his mouth with hers. His hands were placed on her hips now, their kiss when from lips to tongues in a flash. She started grounded her hips against his as soft noises came from their lips. It didn’t take long before, Kazayuki felt the tug on his shirt. He allowed it as he took off his leather jacket, tossed it over the edge of the bed, and removed his shirt. He moved himself a bit away from the edge of the bed as she moved off of him and got on her knees.

Getting the idea, he undid his belt, as he passed her the foil of condoms. He unzipped his jeans and pushed them down to his knees as she sat looking at him from the floor, licking her lips. It was understandable that she wanted to get to it, even though he was paying. He didn’t mind, they could have gone slower, but the nervousness she displayed before had gone away.

Removing his boxer briefs was the next thing. He was already hard so pulling them down, his erect cock bounced to stand at attention for her. Her eyes kind of grew, looking at the size of his cock. Bigger than average. Kazayuki stroked his cock a bit as he looked at her. “Take what you can, I’m not going to force you.” He told her, as she nodded her head in understanding and brought a condom already taken out of the foil. She rolled the condom down his thick shaft. It felt to Kazayuki that the condom was a bit of a tight pinch, but most average condoms were. He wasn’t hung like a horse, but he had a few inches more than the average size and a thick girth. He leaned back and let her do her thing.

Feeling her test out the size on her mouth, he placed a hand on her head and petted her hair, trying to give her that encouragement. He could feel her tongue swirling around his head, humming in satisfaction. It must have been a flavored condom because he couldn’t find that the rubber taste of a condom very satisfying. The more she took in, the more her mouth actions became harder. Not painful hard, just pleasantly hard. He felt her hand wrap around his base, stroking him. He let out a pleasing moan, indicating what she was doing was feeling good to him. And she kept going, bobbing her head up and down, stroking his shaft with a squeeze of her hand for what she didn’t take in her mouth.

It took some time, but he realized she working him up, working him up to cum. He smirked to himself more as he watched her working hard at it and petted her hair again. He allowed himself to find the pleasure more pleasing and gave in to her wish. His breathing hitched for a moment, as he released himself in her warm mouth, even though a condom was there to catch every last drop.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Kazayuki watched her very carefully remove the condom from his cock. He knew he wasn’t completely soft, he was going to get it up again, but the feel of the condom sliding off felt weird to him, especially being taken off by another. After she stood up and walked over to a wastebasket, having tied it off and threw it in.

Next, she turned around, a hand behind her back pulling on the zipper of her dress. She gave him a seductive look as she removed her dress freely from her body, letting it drop to the floor, and removed her shoes too. Her breasts were on display for him to gawk at as she removed her fishnet tights from her legs. Only standing there in a red silky thong, she walked over to him and crawled up his body, kissing his tattoos abs and stopping at his nipple to nip at before kissing the rest of her way up. No words were spoken now, it was clear she was trying to get him aroused again, but at his own pace. His hands ran down her sides, to her buttocks, and squeezed them in his hands just as their lips met. One hand on her butt, his other hand reached down between her legs and rubbed her against the silky material of her thong. She moaned against his lips.

Kazayuki pushed her up closer to him, their lips still attached as he pushed her thong aside and rubbed her clitoris with his thumb, as his fingers moved between the lips of her vagina and found her opening. Pushing a finger in, she gasped at the cool feeling of his fingers. A smirk played on his lips as he kissed her harder, pushing in deep with one finger and back out. He continued to do this, feeling her get moister over his fingers, before adding in a second working them inside her. She moaning against his lips, making him grow harder. He could feel that his cock twitched for attention. So, with his free hand moving from her butt, he felt around till his hand touched the foil package of condoms.

Taking one off the foil line, he had to remove his hand from her vagina to rip open the condom packaging. He rolled it down on his shaft himself, still engaging in the kiss as she sucked on his tongue. It still felt uncomfortable, but he would survive. Condoms felt good sometimes, but other times they seemed to be irritable. No matter what, they were a lifesaver.

Placing his hands on her hips, he moved her lower body closer to the tip of cock. When he felt it was the right hole, he let her lower herself on him. She broke their kiss and let out a long moan as she took him all in and even gasped as he felt the head of his cock push against something soft but hard, her cervix. She gave out a soft whimper as she sat up fully. He let her grind against him, moving against his hips, as his hands ran up her body to fondle her breasts. He gently twisted her nipples as she rode him, and she was starting to ride him hard. He could only guess that it was an orgasm as her mouth was opened and her legs shook slightly. The damn condom didn’t help for him to feel her muscles clamp around him.

She crawled off and moved on her hand and knees beside him on the bed, and he got the hint. They were far from over. He kneels behind her and line his condom covered cock up to her hole and thrusts forward, making her moan in pleasure.

Now it was his turn to take the reins. Kazayuki moved his hips slowly at first, giving her some comfort. Then he picked up the pace with grabbing her hips and moving her against his thrusts. When she moaned for more brokenly, he took her more brutally, making her close to screaming and shifting the bed. He didn’t care. Not now as he worked himself to finish. A final thrust deep in her moist cavern, he exploded himself out inside her, with his condom wrapped cock. They both were panting heavily, catching their breath, before Kazayuki moved from behind her and laid beside her. She laid fully down on her stomach till she felt well enough to move and sat upon the edge of the bed.

Kazayuki watched her as she moved over to a door that led to a small bathroom. “I’m going to freshen up a bit. Hope you don’t mind.” Kazayuki shook his head as he placed his hands over his head and let out a sigh. He heard the water running for the shower, so he decided to sit up and he looked down at the condom he was wearing. Nothing seemed out of place as he slides the condom off and tossed it into the wastebasket. He got up and looked at his watch, a half-hour left. He gathered up his clothes and made his way to the bathroom, she didn’t lock it, so he walked in and placed his clothes right by the sink.

Turning around he saw the young lady bathing herself in soap before their eyes met. “Let me help you wash up and I’ll take my leave.” He told her, wearing a smirk on his face. She smiled at him and opened the door to the shower to let him in. Enough room for the two of them to share for the time they had left.

* * *

27 months later…

“That’s a wrap, guys. You were great out there tonight.”

Kazayuki and the band members had just finished another show on the tour. They were doing the same cities they did before, though in a different order. They played at this venue over two years ago, and still, the same excitement of that night was shown here, maybe a bigger crowd than last time.

“Wow, guys.” The drummer cheered. “We have to do that again at the next show. It really gets the crowd going.”

“That was a wardrobe malfunction.” The guitarist growled out at the drummer. “Pants just don’t fall down at will.” Kazayuki laughed. It was a surprise being up on stage and of course, their guitarist had lost some weight but didn’t think he needed a belt. It just so happened during this show, his pants decided that staying up was no longer their function and they felt down, exposing their guitarist wearing what could only be described as a red speedo. They played through that song, but when they finished the song, the guitarist picked up his pants and rushed backstage. He got a belt from one of the stage crew members and was able to continue to play some more.

As they made their way to their bus, a woman was standing beside the bus holding a child. The band members all looked at her questioningly. Why was she there? Who was she? And why did she have a baby with her? All questions that they were thinking about. Kazayuki stopped in front of her, as it seemed only her brown eyes were staring at him hard. “It’s there something I can help you with, miss?”

She didn’t say a word as she pushed the child into his hands. Luckily, Kazayuki didn’t drop the child and just held it in front of him. Two men in black suits appeared coming from a black sedan. “Mr. Matsumoto. You are now in full custody of your son. Please, do not contact the mother of your child. She has sighed her rights away to you.” Kazayuki was handed a file of papers, that he had to shift the child on himself to his hip so he could collect the file folder. He had to do a double-take and remembered that blond hair young lady from the night they had partied here in this same town. That was over two years ago. Her brown eyes told him she was sorry, but her face was stone cold.

“Wait. Can you explain how this child is even mine?” Kazayuki stopped the three from turning away. He didn’t know how they could just assume he was the father. He knew she was a lady of the night, selling herself, but how would they know it was him?

“It seems the mother here had collected some DNA from your stay with her. She a kleptomaniac of keeping things from her past lovers, and she managed to save some hair from you. Lucky, that is all she took from you, besides your semen. She is a heroin user and we have been advised by her employer to get rid of the baby. She wouldn’t allow us to do that, even when she found out she was pregnant. She said she knew the father and that we should give the boy to the father. It’s taken a while of course, but she wanted to see the boy be passed off to you, she isn’t allowed to leave the city. Now you have the boy, who is your son. All the paperwork is there and signed by lawyers. You have sole custody of your son. Goodnight, sir.”

They wouldn’t let Kazayuki say a word, they simply climbed into the black sedan and left him there, holding the child and file folder. He was shocked at what happened. So much in shock that his band members came out of the bus, having been watching the whole thing and came to him, one taking the child, the other grabbing the file folder, and the last helping Kazayuki back onto the bus. No matter what they had to travel that night to their next gig tomorrow.

Sitting down on the couch, Kazayuki was still in shock. “I can’t be a father. No way I am a father.” He was in denial. The piano player in the band had taken the file folder from Kazayuki, and without permission, due to Kazayuki’s shock, he started going through the documentation.

“Hey, man. I wouldn’t be reading that stuff. That’s probably for Kazayuki’s eyes only.” The guitarist who brought Kazayuki back on the bus said as he walked over to the table the other was sitting at.

“I know, but I’m the only one here with a college degree in law that could make sense of this fast then you guys.” The piano player gave the guitarist a hard look. “What I got is Kazayuki doesn’t even need to go to court, the child is his. They ran samples of Kazayuki’s DNA and it confirms the child is his, a 100% match.” The two looked over to Kazayuki.

“Wow, guys. Look at this.” The drummer came from the back room holding the child out in front of him. “It looks exactly like him, right? Just baby version.” The child they were looking at was a 2-year-old boy, with black soft spiky hair, and the daring dark red eyes. The child didn’t look pleased to be held out the way he was being held but made no fuss. They all turned to Kazayuki, who stood up and walked over to them. He grabbed the child from his drummer with one hand and used his other hand to open the child’s mouth.

“That’s why,” Kazayuki said to himself softly, and realized his band members were looking at him. He turned around and made his way back to the couch, holding the baby in his lap facing him. “That’s why she didn’t want them to get rid of you when you were born, till she handed you to me. You are the replica of me. DNA is 100% match, never when mixing is that possible.”

“Kazayuki, what aren’t you telling us?” The piano player was looking at Kazayuki, as the drummer was standing there completely puzzled. Their guitarist seemed to have his head down and give a couple of sniffs one his hand, before bringing his head back up to look at Kazayuki, he was snorting cocaine by the telling of a little white substance around his nostril.

“Once in a lifetime, a man can create a child that is exactly his. It’s rare, but I am up there in years, so it was bound to happen.” Kazayuki glanced at his band members, his red eyes never moving off them. “I need to know his name.”

The piano player jumped and started searching through the papers, until he found what he was looking for. “Here it is. Ichirou Matsumoto. That’s it, no middle name.” Kazayuki nodded his head and looked at the boy in front of him.

“Ichirou Matsumoto.” He spoke those words before setting the child down on the floor, who got up and started walking around the bus. Kazayuki got himself a beer from the fridge and bought out three others for his band members. “Let’s do a cheer, to my new mistake.” They didn’t understand what Kazayuki was talking about, but they cheered to that and took a swig of their beers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazayuki has a secret...  
> He has to decide to tell them the truth, or not.

“Another has been found out. The police are taking him into custody as we speak. Lives are dwindling by seconds. If you can, report to the authorities of any suspicious activity.”

Kazayuki sighed, watching the news was getting them nowhere. After finding out Ichirou was his child, he still kept his secret to himself, though it was getting harder to keep a secret with a child who was learning new things. His secret was, he was a Vampire. A Vampire that walked among humans, for more years than he would like to admit. His son, Ichirou, was barely three years old, but he was a vampire too. He needed to keep this secret a little longer.

“Damn, did you hear? Another one captured.” Kazayuki looked as his band member came on to the bus, the drummer. “These attacks are going on and women are disappearing left right and center. What is going to happen? If all the women in the world disappear, that’s it for us straight guys, right Kazayuki?”

Kazayuki just nodded his head as more reports came in on the news channel. Every channel seemed to run the news now, there were only two channels that didn’t. The weather network and children’s television station. Seems now things were turning for the worse for the human race, and all Kazayuki could do was sit back and watch. He didn’t want to get involved and he didn’t want his secret to get out. As the news mostly reports are men attacking women and killing them off, not the real reason, the reason Kazayuki knew.

Out of the human race, the women had more desired blood. Kazayuki knew this was why they were disappearing, even he had an itch to go out there and take a bite from a woman, but he would have to be satisfied with his hidden stash of blood. Where his band member had their addictions, his was blood, not drugs. He even had to look out for Ichirou now, his son was a Vampire and he had a hunger for blood. Kazayuki could hold off long without it, Ichirou couldn’t. It was because he has lived long enough to understand what was expected of him, centuries-long, though from his appearance he still looked like a thirty-year-old human.

Ichirou had walked over to Kazayuki and put his hand on his. He looked down at the small boy of two years. He didn’t speak, Kazayuki had wondered why and even taking him to doctors to check him out, they couldn’t understand either. He was just glad they didn’t pick up on the fact that Ichirou wasn’t human. “Okay, let’s go.” Kazayuki stood up, taking Ichirou’s hand they walked to the back of the bus and used the washroom, well Ichirou used the toilet.

“You are getting really good at this. Only had the kid for three months and you know exactly what he needs without him talking. I think you were cut out for being a dad.” Kazayuki could hear the drummer calling back to him, talking. Kazayuki didn’t know if he was cut out for being a father, he just learned to look Ichirou in the eyes and it was like his son could tell him that way. “Well, we are done touring now. So, you going to use the tour bus as your own personal home till we tour again?”

That’s right. Kazayuki didn’t know what he was going to do as the tour was coming down to its last leg. One more show and that would be it. Kazayuki used to sleep in random hotels, or not sleep at all and show up to the studio when they needed him. They knew he had no home, Kazayuki never saw the need to use a home. He has more than enough money to buy himself a house and even with the tour money he got he could afford it. Though, he wasn’t keen on finding a home.

“I guess that’s my plan. I need to keep Ichirou safe. At least the tour bus will be well maintained if I live in it.” Kazayuki opened the door to the washroom, seeing Ichirou standing up on a step ladder washing his hands. “Hey, where are the other two anyways? I thought all three of you went out.”

The drummer of his band shrugged his shoulders. “They were with me, then they decided to stop for some blow, before coming on the bus.” Kazayuki shook his head. Well, at least they weren’t trying to do it on the bus. “So, now that you got this kid, you’ve become pretty boring. You don’t go out with us anymore. Is this how it’s going to be from now on?” Kazayuki looked towards his drummer as he walked back over to the couch.

“Really? You want me to neglect him and go partying?” Kazayuki smirked and relaxed back against the back of the couch on the tour bus, resting his head against the window behind him. “You don’t know how badly I wish I could go out and party, but someone’s got to stay here and look after Ichirou. I’m his father so it falls on me, no one else.”

The other two came into the bus from the outside, both looking pretty strung out. “Man, Kazayuki you should have been there. Titties everywhere.” The guitarist exclaimed so excitingly. Kazayuki chuckled at his behavior. As high as they seemed, he could still get a laugh out of watching their behavior, even though he had a feeling he shouldn’t be exposing Ichirou to this behavior.

“Yeah, I bet.” Kazayuki put his head forward to watch the two and Ichirou came over to him quickly wanting up on his lap. “Are you tried, my little one? Do you need daddy to put you to bed?” He asked Ichirou, who started to shake his head, then stopped to stare into Kazayuki’s red eyes with his dark red ones. Kazayuki sighed, he understood now. “Not yet, just wait.” He told Ichirou. Though the other three were looking at Kazayuki strangely. “What?”

“It’s like you and your son have linked minds. Like you can read his every thought. The kid doesn’t speak, but you understand him.” The guitarist went on and one about linked minds and reading thoughts, Kazayuki could only smirk as he carried on. That wasn’t true, not in the least bit. He was staring at his son's eyes, looking for the answer in his eyes, and eyes alone. Simple gestures made him understand him, but this, was hunger and Kazayuki could see the change in his son's dark red eyes, the red would start to move in waves around his pupil. Though any human probably wouldn’t notice it, he did.

“Okay, shut up about mind readers, they don’t exist.” The piano player in the band slapped the guitarist in the back of the head. Kazayuki chuckled at the situation. How they joked around, Kazayuki knew he physically couldn’t joke around like them, but it was entertaining to watch.

“Oh, shh guys! That commercial is on.” The drummer shushed the two behind him and looked at the TV. The drummer had been going on and on about this island commercial that none of them believed. An island that had a city built on it with a thriving community of people. A paradise away from paradise, but there was a catch, the cost to live there.

As the commercial started everyone sat quietly watching it, but Kazayuki thought something was wrong when the TV screen turned blank then a man appeared, he looked at the others, they didn’t seem to notice the man appearing on the TV.

“Don’t adjust your screen.” The man started to speak and Kazayuki looked back at the TV and noticed something strange, it was like he could sense the aura from the man on the TV. “As you are watching this commercial others around you may not see me. That’s because they are humans. This is a message to Vampires and Angels alike. Here on my island, this is a city with many just like you and humans who have come to accept us, before the world could. I am inviting all who are watching this to come and live on my island. The world is changing out there, but here we thrive. Bring yourself, your families here, even your friends and live in peace. There is a website to register, this is the only way we can see if you are fit to live on my island. Personal information is needed, but we are not a scam, rest to sure. You may live here under no cost, except to buy your own home. Fill out the information on the website, and come be one with us. We accept all jobs, so you will not lose your current job when you move here, you will just become apart of our community. For those with celebrity status, no worries, we can work with you and we have our agencies and record label companies here for your needs. Register as soon as possible to get in the queue.”

The TV screen turned blank before the commercial appeared again, but at the ending, showing an aerial view of the island once again, with the city surrounded by three different beaches, a forest, then farmland at the bottom of two mountain peaks. It was a grand sight and the city was huge, to say the least.

Ichirou squirmed in Kazayuki’s lap and pointed to the TV. He must have seen what Kazayuki saw, and he was interested in it. Kazayuki looked at Ichirou, he imagined Ichirou growing up with other children, playing, and having fun. It would be the perfect setting for Ichirou at least.

“Wow, man. That island is huge. I just want to go there to tour, maybe spend a few weeks visiting and seeing the sights.” The drummer spoke his interest on the island.

“Why don’t we just move there?” Kazayuki asked the other three before he thought about it. Humans that did live there knew about Vampires and Angels, though Kazayuki never has seen an Angel around here before, they must be there. “I mean they do have a record label company there and maybe we can sign with them.”

“How do you know that?” The guitarist asked Kazayuki, as the piano player got up and walked to the table and started searching on his laptop. It would be great to sign with another company and a great place to raise Ichirou, especially away from humans. He was young, he didn’t understand that he didn’t need to feed all the time, but his body was growing, so maybe that’s why he needed blood more.

“Kazayuki is right, there is a record label company there, and there are a lot of touring bands that come from there. Big names too.” The piano player kept searching on his computer. “Though they are accepting new bands or solo artists, it’d be a long shot for us to get signed with them.”

“Not if we moved there. We move there, I bet you we will be signed on.” Kazayuki didn’t want to tell them everything he heard from the TV during the commercial they watched.

“It’s crazy talk. Who is going to spend $100,000 for one person to move there? Besides, we have our lives here and we don’t wanna ruin our fan base either.” The drummer seemed to be thinking this through in his head. He was the one who was the most interested in it, but now he was weighing the pros and cons.

The guitarist stood up and stretched out his body. “Yeah, like hell I’ll live there. They probably have strict rules about drugs and I’m not giving them up anytime soon.” He started to walk toward the back of the bus, this was his way of saying goodnight.

Kazayuki rolled his eyes. As much as he enjoyed watching his friends goof off, they were driving themselves to an early grave if they kept it up. He looked down at Ichirou, he had forgotten about feeding Ichirou as he saw two small little fangs sticking out over his bottom lip. “Come on, it’s bedtime.” He picked up Ichirou and walked to the back of the bus. There were bunk beds on either side of the tour bus, but Kazayuki was headed to the backroom, which was just that, a room with a large bed. They had decided since Kazayuki was sleeping with Ichirou on the bed, it made sense to give him the bigger bed. Of course, it gave him some privacy too. He pulled open a draw on a bottom shelf, completely, before reaching his hand in and pulling out a cooler, inside this cooler it remained cold, cold enough for the blood packages inside. He sat Ichirou down on the bed and held the pack in his hands towards Ichirou’s face, the child didn’t bite it.

“I know, my little one, but this is what we have to do,” Kazayuki whispered so softly. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped the package in it, before rubbing it between his hands. Making it warmer was the better way to drink them, though Kazayuki just got used to drinking whether they were warm or cold. Blood was blood to him now. He held it out once again for Ichirou, but the two-year-old wasn’t having any of it. He was getting frustrated with Ichirou, though he couldn’t blame him. He was probably breastfed and once his fangs grew in, he probably drank blood from his mother, who knew. Kazayuki bought the package to his mouth and pierced a small hole in the package, making the scent of blood fill up the room slowly. This caught Ichirou’s attention and Kazayuki held out the package to him again. This time Ichirou bit his fangs into it and started sucking back.

“Good boy.” Kazayuki petted the top of Ichirou’s head. He handed the package to Ichirou fully now, knowing he had grabbed it and was drinking the contents now. Kazayuki turned around to put the cooler back in its place and put the slide drawer back to hide the cooler. He got up on the bed and sat down beside Ichirou, noticing the boy’s eyes were starting to close slowly. He leans over and kisses the top of Ichirou’s head before he moved the boy farther up on the bed and laid him down. “Just sleep now.” He wasn’t worried about leaving Ichirou with the package now, the boy would drink it all up, even in his sleep. It must be the baby in him that finds comfort in sucking. He got up and walked out of the room, closing the door that he opened behind him and walked back to the front of the bus.

“Hey, Kazayuki. We were just talking about it and seems like it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Maybe in the next few years when we have saved up the money, we could move there. I know I wouldn’t mind it, especially if we get signed on to that record label company that we know will make us more famous.” The drummer was sitting beside the piano player looking at the information on the screen.

“We could finish our tour with this record label company now. We know we are going to have to sign a new contract soon with them after the tour, so why don’t we just move there now and do it.” Kazayuki looked at both of them, as he sat across the table from them. “Don’t worry about the cost. I know $100,000 per person seems like a lot to you guys, but think about it. I’ll pay your way and you guys can pay for the housing. Four bedroom apartment shouldn’t be hard to find.”

“Don’t you mean five-bedroom, or are you keeping your son with you all the time in bed? You know he’s never going to learn to sleep on his own with you by his side all the time.” The piano player informed Kazayuki with what he was doing was terrible parenting.

“I know, but I know if he is in the room and I have to lock the door from the outside, in case you guys make some crazy friends, he’ll be safe by my side.” Kazayuki looked at the two with a displeased look. One that told them he didn’t approve of their crazy partying. At least in the home. Kazayuki had been to their house parties before and knew what could go down.

“Alright, but if I see an issue with it, you better listen to me. You baby him too much, and I understand that you didn’t know him as a baby, but he needs to grow up too.” The piano player was firm with his small threat, and Kazayuki knew he meant it. He even understood that he was babying Ichirou right now, but he needed to watch him closely. He was sure if they lived in the city on that island, he wouldn’t need to watch him closely. With other Vampires around, they would understand and he would get the help he needed raising Ichirou. He couldn’t ask these guys for help, they didn’t know anything about raising a Vampire.

* * *

“You boys were great tonight.”

A man dressed in a suit and tie holding a wine glass in front of himself, raised. The other members on the bus, all four band members raised their wine glasses. “To a toast to a wonderful and successful tour. Hope the next one is as rocking as this one was.” He chuckled and they all cheered to that and took a sip from their wine glasses. Well, the drummer seemed to down the whole glass. The man toasting them was their manager from the record label company. He wasn’t impressed that a baby was spotted on the tour bus and that even some of the backstage crew had to babysit during the tour, but it went smoothly.

Kazayuki had to tell him what all happened and why he now had a son. Their manager said he could get some lawyers together to fight this, but Kazayuki told him no. Ichirou was his responsibility now. He just needed to figure out something, such as a home. The man was alright with Kazayuki using the tour bus as a home base for now, but he would have to find a place to rent soon.

“Well, after one successful tour, you know what that means.” The man set his wine glass down. “Your contract. It’ll take about a week to go through your reviews but I will have to go through it again with you guys. You have a week off to gather yourselves and decide if you want to continue. I suggest you find yourself a place to stay, Kazayuki. I shall see you guys in a week.” He turned and left the tour bus, leaving the four band members in silence.

“Are we sure we will get a contract with them?” The guitarist spoke first to break the silence. “I enjoy being with you guys, but I don’t want to throw away a for sure contract to go chasing after another that might not be a sure deal.” Kazayuki could see where he was coming from. They were living the dream right now. Not seriously famous, but still making headlines in the newspaper.

“We registered and Kazayuki made sure to sign off on our registrations. I’m not sure why he had to do it, but with him paying our fee, I’m not going to question it. We just have to wait for the e-mail.” The piano player informed the guitarist what they needed to do now, wait for the e-mail. Hopefully, the e-mail came before the week was up. He wasn’t looking forward to looking for a new place and even than figuring out what he was going to do with Ichirou. He had an idea what he could do, hire a nanny, but being a Vampire, that’s where the problem came in.

Kazayuki picked up Ichirou off the floor. “Let’s not worry about it now. We should go out to eat, bills on me.” He smirked at them, before making his way out of the tour bus. The bright sun shined down on them, but Kazayuki was prepared, at least for Ichirou, and put a pair of shades on the boy’s face. They were headed to the car lot, where they had parked their cars as they were away on tour. Though, Kazayuki didn’t have a car. His motorcycle was parked where it had been left and he realized he would have to get a car now, but for now, he was getting a ride from one of the other members.

“You know, I just realized this. Your kid needs a car seat.” The piano player came up to Kazayuki. “You can’t just leave him on the seat to be thrown around.” That was going to be an issue. Kazayuki looked at Ichirou and looked at the car, which belonged to the drummer. They were all going to squeeze into his sedan.

“It’ll be fine. We can pick up a car seat later. I still have to figure out what I’m going to do for traveling now. I only have a motorcycle.” He realized his dilemma now more. He was realizing having a kid now was causing more and more problems that he needed to find solutions to.

“I’ll trade you. Straight trade. Your bike for my car.” The drummer said as he came over to the car, pressing the unlock button on the key fob. “I have my license to ride one, just never got around to buying one.” This was a difficult trade for Kazayuki, his motorcycle, he put a lot of work into getting it to run after building it from scrap. He had a lot of memories with that motorcycle.

“I’ll think about it.” Kazayuki knew his band member was only doing the right thing, helping him out, but somehow he was having a hard time accepting the help. He let out a sigh as he climbed into the car’s backseat. He placed Ichirou between him and the guitarist in the backseat. “Now, Ichirou. You have to sit nicely.” He did up the buckle, though it was only going across Ichirou’s lap. He smirked at Ichirou as the little boy looked up at him and smirked right back.

“It’s like a mini-me for Kazayuki. He’s already got your billion-dollar smirk down to a tee.” The guitarist chuckled as he did up he seat buckle right beside Ichirou. Kazayuki knew they were joking, but they didn’t know, even though he did tell them before, they probably didn’t understand. Ichirou was rare, he was completely Kazayuki, spinning image of him, and will grow up to be a look-alike of him. Though Kazayuki could only hope he wouldn’t have his personality, just his own.

As they headed out of the car lot, Kazayuki was looking out the window seeing all the stores go by. He wondered if they had similar shops on the island. Every thought he had kept bringing him back to the idea of living on the island where other Vampires lived. Though the more he thought about it, his band members didn’t even know his big secret and there it seemed like it wasn’t a secret if humans accepted them and lived with them. He was lost in thought for quite something, though he was doing what he should be doing, taking Ichirou from the car, into the restaurant, engaging in conversation, and helping Ichirou eat his meal. Though the more he looked at his band members, the more he wondered how they would react. He had to, he had to spill his secret out. He was going to live on that island with or without them. He could start up another band easily on his own if he had to with the record label company.

As they made their way to the mall to buy Ichirou a car seat, Kazayuki sighed. “Guys, there is something I have to tell you.” Kazayuki was driving the car now, as the drummer said he could take it for a test drive before trading. “There is a reason I want, no, need to move to that island. Before Ichirou, I wouldn’t even think of it, but now I have a son and a son that is exactly like me. This is hard to come out, but-”

“You’re gay?” The drummer cut Kazayuki off. “The island is full of queers and you want to go find true love there. Though, how you figure your son’s gay when he’s only two is a mystery to me.” Kazayuki wanted so badly to reach back there and slap the drummer upside the head for that comment. Though, he wasn’t completely honest with sexually either with them. He just had more women throwing themselves at him.

“No, it’s not that.” Kazayuki stopped at the light and looked over his shoulder to see all of them. “I’m not human. I’m a Vampire.” He saw that they were just staring at him, the guitarist had stared before turning to look out the window. The drummer in the backseat looked at Kazayuki in disbelief before looking down at Ichirou, who looked at him with a smirk, a fang slipping out. The piano player tapped Kazayuki’s shoulder, to which Kazayuki noticed the light had turned green so he had to continue to drive.

They drove in silence, deadly silence. Only hearing the engine of the car became a dull sound. Kazayuki pulled into the parking lot to the mall, he parked the car and shut off the car. He parked far enough away from the doors, so there wasn’t any stranger wondering why they were just sitting.

“If no one will say it, I will.” The piano player finally broke the silence. “I’m moving to that island with Kazayuki, whether he’s a Vampire or not. Sure, if Kazayuki is moving there because of that reason, then that’s where he needs to be.” He looked over at Kazayuki with a cheeky grin on his face. Kazayuki was just glad to have at least one support. Now for the two in the back, the guitarist still looked out the window and the drummer was looking kind of pale in the face. If they decided to not come, then just the three of them would be going.

Finally, the guitarist looked over at Kazayuki. “Sorry, but I’m not doing it. Too many women are out here dying and if it’s because of Vampires, I don’t want to associate with them. I’ll take the train back.” He opened the backseat door behind Kazayuki and got out.

After the door slammed shut, the drummer looked at Kazayuki and then the piano player, back to Ichirou. “Y-you ain’t going to eat me, right?” Kazayuki smirked and shook his head.

“If I was going to do anything like drink your blood, I would have to ask you first. I like to be polite about it, my own rules to live by. Ichirou, on the other hand, he’s still young, so keep your hand away from his mouth.” Kazayuki chuckled as the drummer looked like he was trying to press himself up against the door, trying to get away from Ichirou. “Ah, you worry too much, he’s harmless. Now you see why I am an overbearing parent with him.”

The piano player laughed lightly. “Now I understand why.” He was always telling Kazayuki, in the short while since he became a parent he was acting more and more like a helicopter parent. Guessed he realized if Kazayuki wasn’t, the child would have done something. “What do you say? Move with us to that beautiful island and carry on as our drummer?”

The drummer looked at Ichirou again. “Okay, but I don’t trust him yet. Not till I know he’s not going to eat me.” Kazayuki shook his head. Ichirou wasn’t going to eat him, he might bite, but eating them, Kazayuki highly doubted it. “So, are you going to turn us into Vampire then?” The question came as a surprise to Kazayuki.

“Um, ah, no. I don’t turn people into Vampires. Vampires are born, just like humans.” Kazayuki shook his head. “I have no need to do that. As you see, turning someone is like finding a life mate, a partner. Has been that way since the beginning of time, humans just created elaborate stories about us. We only turn someone to become our life mate, or if it’s two of us, we just share our blood. Though, feeding on humans is not too far from the truth. I’m older than I appear and have learned to restrain myself.”

The piano player held Kazayuki back in his seat, as he was about to open the door. “How much older are you? Like 70’s old?” His eyes told Kazayuki that he wanted the truth, the truth that only Kazayuki could tell them.

“I’m well past a few centuries old, you lose track of what you guys say is human years.” He chuckled and the others joined in with their laughter. All of Kazayuki’s fears went out the window. Sure, they lost a friend and the bands guitarist, but Kazayuki was sure they would make it in the new city and probably even find another guitarist to join them. “Now, let’s get a car seat for the little guy and make plans to move. I got the e-mail early this morning, but I didn’t know how you guys would react to the real truth.”

“What? Are you serious man?” The drummer grinned like a fool. “Alright, now we are going to see some nice beaches and mountains!” Kazayuki was glad he had most of his band members, it was going to make the move a lot easier on him. Still, this was going to be a new chapter in their life, a new record label, and new experiences for them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big changes are coming for Kazayuki...  
> How will he react?

A few years down the road, Ichirou is 5 years old…

“Great song guys. I could really feel the groove in that one.”

The man standing on the other side of the glass in the recording studio spoke on a mic and giving them a thumbs up. Kazayuki gave him a thumbs-up as well, before turning his band members, Junji on the drums, Kiyo on the keyboard, and their newest member, Yutaka on guitar. Junji and Kiyo, both humans, had been with Kazayuki since before the move to the island. They accepted Kazayuki for who he was, a Vampire and they made the big move to the island to start a new life. Yutaka, another Vampire, joined up with them when they moved three years ago.

Having lost their guitarist before the move, Kazayuki worried about keeping the band together, but the recording label company reached out to the talent agency and found a few guitar players, and giving their music sheets to the guitar players, they found a worthy guitarist in Yutaka. He was glad to be picked up from them, he had a bit of a man-crush on their music before joining them. He used to go to the mainland and see a few of their shows on their tours. Kazayuki was glad they found a worthy guitar player in Yutaka and their band seemed to gain more fame on the mainland after moving to the island as well.

In the three years, after finding out he was a father, Kazayuki still kept Ichirou nearby. The young boy seemed to grow on them and not having him around would feel like they were missing apart of the band, even though Ichirou stayed close by, he wasn’t allowed in the recording booth with them, his dark red eyes were looking at them through the window door, waiting for them.

Kazayuki placed his bass in its carrier and slung it on his back before walking towards the booths exit. He opened the door and Ichirou grabbed onto his leg. “Miss me, do you?” Kazayuki chuckled as he shook hands with their new manager. The original two band members still thought Kazayuki should be a manager but Kazayuki didn’t have the connections here. “Thank you, sir. For letting us record our newest song.”

“Oh, I’m just glad I was able to listen. I believe the band will be around for a long time. I can just see the name written on billboards.” Their new manager was more enthusiastic than their old manager and helping them farther their career. “Seems Ichirou might want a hand in playing like his old man.” The man chuckled as he saw Ichirou clinging to Kazayuki’s leg.

“Yeah, he might be a musician someday. Just not now.” Kazayuki chuckle. “Well, thank you for listening. We shall see you Monday.” He said his farewells before heading out of the recording studio building. The city was large, many people walked around rather than drive. Though, Kazayuki would rather drive than having to carry his instrument and keeping an eye on Ichirou. He walked over to his car, a classic Mazda Savanna RX-3. He had been lucky to find one in a scrap yard on the mainland. He brought it over to the island and fixed her up. She was now his pride and joy, besides Ichirou. He missed his motorcycle, the one he had traded his drummer for his car, but things happen and it got into a pretty bad accident. Lucky his drummer was able to walk away from with only a few scratches, but the bike was a total loss.

Ichirou was holding Kazayuki’s hand and started pointing towards the car. At five years old, Kazayuki had taken Ichirou to the doctors plenty of times, and even the Vampire doctors that looked Ichirou over couldn’t find an issue with his speech. If the boy wanted to, he could talk, but he didn’t, which worried Kazayuki and even the doctors. There was little anyone could do till Ichirou tried to speak.

“Yes, we are going home.” Kazayuki walked over to his car, opened the passenger door for Ichirou to climb into the back seat, and buckle himself in, the boy was smart and could do things himself. The other band members came out of the building and Junji, the guitarist came up to Kazayuki. “How about we carpool home together?”

Kazayuki didn’t mind, putting his bass and the guitar in the back seat, before fixing the seat for Junji to climb in. Kazayuki got in on the driver's side and started up the rotary engine and pulled out the parking lot, heading home. “I have the babysitter coming for Ichirou around 7 pm tonight, I have to go get Mizuki at 6 pm though. Would you mind staying with Ichirou for an hour?” Kazayuki glanced at Junji as he continuing driving.

“No, I was planning on leaving at 8 pm, but leaving earlier sounds better.” Junji gave Kazayuki a sarcastic reply. Kazayuki could see the grin on his face from the corner of his eye. “Yeah, it’s not a big deal. You have been going out more with this Mizuki person, just who are they?” He asked Kazayuki, which Kazayuki just shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, come on and tell me already.”

Kazayuki smirked, shaking his head. “Mizuki is just that, a person I’m going out with. I can’t be the stay at home dad all the time, I need my fun.” It was true, he stayed at home there first year living on the island in the city. He didn’t trust anyone to look after Ichirou. Though, living in a four-bedroom house with the two other band members, they seemed to become friendly with a lot of other party people, ranging from humans to Vampires.

One of those parties, he had turned his back on Ichirou’s room, only to realize he needed to check on him. When he did, a young female Vampire was sitting on the bed with Ichirou, reading stories to him. That was the first person he trusted with Ichirou, and she offered to babysit him whenever she was available, loving how Ichirou didn’t speak but he knew what he wanted and how to ask for it without words. Kazayuki liked the offer but never bothered to ask her, till a tour came up.

Kazayuki knew it was a short tour, he was going to take Ichirou. Though word got around and Junji told Kazayuki that the young female Vampire would be free for them, if they didn’t want to take Ichirou on tour. She knew it would be hard for Kazayuki but said if Ichirou stayed behind, he could go out to the park and meet kids his age and that Kazayuki could go out and be with people who knew how to have a good time. He was leery about it at first, it took Junji and Kiyo to convince him to let Ichirou stay behind.

Now, every time Kazayuki calls her, she doesn’t hesitate to cancel her plans and come babysit for him. It might be because he doesn’t know how to pay for a babysitter and always gave her more than what was expected of a babysitter. He was just glad Ichirou didn’t mind her and she was helping Ichirou with words, not saying them, but spelling them out. She had brought college homework with her one time and was writing an essay and well, Ichirou was curious about learning to write.

It was a big change for them, all of them. The band's success and Ichirou’s growing up. He always wondered how he would handle dealing with a child on top of everything, but Kazayuki found a way with a bit of help from his band members.

As they pulled up in the driveway of their home, Kazayuki pulled the e-brake and shut off the car. Junji opened his door and grabbed the two instruments out of the back seat and Ichirou climbed out without any help from them. They walked up the steps and went inside. It was a western-style home with a living room when you walked inside, a kitchen off the living room, and a hallway leading to four-bedrooms and a bathroom.

“Alright, Ichirou. Kelly will be here later tonight. Junji is going to stay with you when daddy leaves. You make sure that Junji leaves right after Kelly comes.” As Kazayuki told his son the plans for tonight, mentioning Junji made him receive a back slap from him. He laughed lightly about it, as Ichirou nodded his head and went off to go play in his room.

“Well, that means you can get ready, it’s already 4 pm and you wanted to leave at 6 pm.” Junji walked over to the couch and flipped on the TV. “What do I feed Ichirou this time around?”

Ichirou had a strange feeding behavior, that even Kelly and the doctors pointed out. Ichirou was more into the blood than usual. Vampires could eat food, just like humans, but they also needed blood to satisfy themselves and their desire for it. It kept them strong and able to use their senses and abilities. Kazayuki had limited his blood intake a long time ago and he never realized that the blood helped in more ways than just hunger. Being surrounded by other Vampires, Kazayuki didn’t hold back as much now, but Ichirou was different. He preferred blood over food.

“He can eat whatever you make him. He doesn’t need anything else.” Kazayuki said, as he walked passed the TV and headed down the hallway to his room. “I’m going to shower and stuff, so I can make him up something after.” He told Junji, looking back at the other.

Junji shook his head. “I’m ordering something, so don’t worry about it.” He smiled at Kazayuki. That was fine by Kazayuki, he knew Junji rather have takeout over an actual meal any day. Kazayuki was the only cook in the house too, as the others didn’t cook and Kazayuki had to do something in his spare time at home with Ichirou. He became quite the chef and the others didn’t bother trying to cook anymore as Kazayuki did it all the time.

Kazayuki had showered, dried his hair, spiked it up with gel, and put on a few dabs of cologne. He was wearing a red flannel shirt, with the sleeves ripped off, to show off his muscular tattooed arms and pair of blue jeans. Wearing a pair of black converse shoes. He looked ready to get going. He glances at his watch and sees it was close to the time he was preparing to leave and walked out of the bathroom and headed to the living room.

In the living room, Ichirou was picking at whatever takeout Junji had ordered them. Kazayuki shook his head. “Make sure he eats more. I’m heading out.” He leaned down and kissed Ichirou on top of his head. “You behave, young man. Daddy will be back later.” He ruffled his son’s naturally black spiky hair and left in his car.

Taking the trip out of the suburbs, back downtown, Kazayuki smirked at himself in the review mirror. He was pleased with himself and now he was going on another date with Mizuki, his love interest. He was dating Mizuki, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to last. Kazayuki wasn’t worried about it. Mizuki was a human, after all, if the time came that Mizuki didn’t want to be with him, he would feel heartbroken, but he would move on. Years of playing around and sleeping around, Kazayuki never got attached to anyone serious.

Pulling up to a large condominium, Kazayuki pulled his car into the lower level which was a car lot for parking. Finding the parking space he used as Mizuki didn’t have a vehicle to fill the spot, he got out and headed to the elevators. He wasn’t nervous, but he was fidgety about going to up to Mizuki’s place. Mizuki was a musician like himself, being a guitar player for another band. They had met one day during a music festival about six months ago and since then they have been going steady. Going on dates when it was convenient for them. Though Mizuki had welcomed Kazayuki into his life, Kazayuki was still secretive about his own life. He kept Ichirou out of the picture. He didn’t want to cause an issue of a lasting relationship, though Mizuki had introduced his adopted daughter Eliza to him. She was only three years old, 2 years younger than Ichirou.

Making it to the top of the building, it was designed for two private suites. He walked over to the door he knew was Mizuki’s and knocked on it with his knuckle. He waited patiently for Mizuki to open the door, and when he did Kazayuki’s eyes scanned over the other’s body. Short black hair that barely touched his shoulders, light brown eyes that seemed to pull Kazayuki in, his lip piercing rounding around his plump lower lip. Wearing a hooded muscle shirt and a pair of black shorts, with bare feet, Kazayuki knew that Mizuki wasn’t planning on going out tonight, they would be staying in and Kazayuki liked the idea of that.

“Hey, beautiful.” Kazayuki stepped forward and placed a hand on Mizuki’s cheek and kissed the shorter man on the lips. Mizuki barely came to Kazayuki’s chin, but that’s what Kazayuki found cute about his love interest, he was human and he was shorter than him.

“I’m glad you came on time. I prepared supper for us.” Mizuki gave him a soft smile, though the smile never reached his eyes, those light brown eyes that would make Kazayuki feel like his heart was skipping a beat. Kazayuki scanned the room. It was an open concept of a living room, kitchen, and dining area in one. Along the wall of the front door was the master bedroom door with its own private bathroom. Then there were windows, they faced out to show a private patio with a small pool. The dining area was in the light of the windows before the kitchen ran along the far wall. A wide hallway was beside the kitchen and as far as Kazayuki could understand was there were three bedrooms and a bathroom to share among the bedrooms. The closest to the kitchen was Eliza’s bedroom and the two far bedrooms weren’t used.

“Eliza isn’t here?” Kazayuki asked, trying to seem not pleased by that idea, but it was perfect if she wasn’t here. That meant they had the whole place to themselves.

“No, she’s sleeping over at one of my friend’s places. He has a daughter the same age as her, so they have become friends, even in playschool.” Mizuki shut the door as Kazayuki removed his shoes. He followed Mizuki to the dining table. Two plates were set out across from each other with a candle and rose in a vase. It looked like Mizuki was trying to make it romantic, though Kazayuki didn’t need romance. He pulled out a chair and sat down as Mizuki went to get the dinner they would be having, lasagna tonight.

The meal went well, tasted well too, to Kazayuki. He would have to ask for the recipe from Mizuki sometime and make it at home. Though during their meal, Kazayuki noticed something, Mizuki was barely looking at him, always seemed to have his eyes cast down. Kazayuki was hoping this wasn’t a breakup dinner, because he would rather be told straight off the bat than sit through dinner to be told they were breaking up.

They moved from the dining table to the couch, where Mizuki was leaning into Kazayuki as they watched a bit of TV. By the fourth sigh from Mizuki’s lips, Kazayuki gently pushes him off of him and placed his hands on Mizuki’s shoulder. Mizuki didn’t make eye contact with him. Kazayuki frowned. “What seems to be troubling you, Mizuki? Is it our relationship?”

Mizuki shook his head. “I have to tell you something, something that could break us or bring us closer together.” Kazayuki wasn’t liking the sounds of this. What could it be though, he had no idea what Mizuki could be talking about. He looked in Mizuki’s light brown eyes with his red eyes, trying to find the answer. He’d have the answer if Mizuki was anything like Ichirou. “I’m pregnant.” That came as a shock to Kazayuki, he was just staring at Mizuki. Mizuki, a male, pregnant. What? How? Why? Questions running through his head as his face showed no emotions.

There was a secret to the island, a secret that Kazayuki was just finding out himself. The island held a special power, giving males the ability to become pregnant. The story behind the special ability was that the owner of the island, Lord Kamijo, an elder Vampire had a lover, his lover was a male, and wanting an heir, he made his lover pregnant but of course, his ability flowed out into the land that was the island. Kazayuki thought the story was just a tale, to make everyone use protection, to scare younger people, but now he was realizing it wasn’t a myth.

With the tale being told, Kazayuki was now realizing it could very well be true. He had seen what you would classify as a pregnant man around parks in the city. He simply thought they had a beer gut, or some other medical conditions, the thought of pregnancy never crossed his mind. He never really met a pregnant woman in the first place in all his years, there were women in the city, but never seen one pregnant. Now, it was making sense, that man on the TV must have been Lord Kamijo, and he knew females of the world were disappearing faster than most realize. His island was the only way to keep the population up in the world. It may have been a safe haven for most, but there was an underlining meaning to living here.

Tears were lining Mizuki’s eyes as he watched Kazayuki come to the realization. Kazayuki searched Mizuki’s face trying to find his answer for Mizuki. He hadn’t even told Mizuki about Ichirou and he knew of Eliza. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to say something but Mizuki pulled away and spoke first. “If you don’t want to be with me, I’ll understand. If you are telling me to get rid of our child, I’m sorry to tell you but I won’t be. This is my child as much as it’s your child. You don’t need to stay around, I have enough money to support-”

Mizuki’s words were cut off by Kazayuki’s lips pressed against his. Kazayuki had a hand on Mizuki’s back, lowering him onto the couch. Mizuki must have realized that Kazayuki wasn’t mad as he wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Kazayuki deepened the kiss as Mizuki started responding to him. Kazayuki moved his free hand down and placed it on Mizuki’s belly and strangely enough, with Kazayuki’s Vampire senses he could feel a small aura from his belly, so small, barely there, but Kazayuki knew it was their child.

He moved his hand up and started unzipping Mizuki’s muscle shirt hoodie as Mizuki’s started undoing all the buttons on Kazayuki’s sleeveless flannel shirt. Buttons and zipper down and their shirts exposing their torsos, Kazayuki’s hard abs, and Mizuki’s flat stomach. Kazayuki moved from Mizuki’s lips down to his chest and nipped at one of his nipples, making Mizuki moan like a wanton whore, he must be more sensitive than usual. He trailed his kisses down his body and gently kissed Mizuki’s belly, as he removed the short Mizuki was wearing.

Mizuki turned around and got on his hand and knees. “Please, I need you.” He looked over his shoulder at Kazayuki, begging him to take him. Kazayuki stood up and removed his pants before kneeling behind Mizuki. He rubbed his fingers over Mizuki’s back entrance, and it was moist. “Just take me, I don’t need to prepped.” Kazayuki nodded his head at Mizuki’s words and grabbed his growing hardness, it wasn’t at full thickness as he pressed his head Mizuki’s entrance, surprisingly the hole was soft and moist enough to let Kazayuki push inside. With his hand on Mizuki’s hips, Kazayuki watched his hardening member slip fully inside before he stopped. Kazayuki moved over top Mizuki and kissed the back of his neck as one hand reached around his body, teasing Mizuki’s nipple and the other gripped gently onto Mizuki’s dick. He gave the man a few strokes, before rocking his hips against Mizuki.

Moans and grunts filled the room, Mizuki was needy for this as his cock dripped pre-cum all over the couch and Kazayuki could feel the moistness Mizuki’s body had created against his groin area. Kazayuki had started moving his hips faster, thrusts long and deep, till Mizuki wanted him to fuck him hard. Then his hips snapped deeply and short movements that sent Mizuki over the edge, cumming all over Kazayuki’s hand and couch. Kazayuki’s orgasm followed quickly after, as he buried his cock deep in Mizuki and released his seed. The two of them panting, Mizuki’s body had a thin layer of sweat on it, though Kazayuki didn’t mind. He grabbed the other to follow him and sit on his lap. He was still inside Mizuki, but that didn’t matter, neither of them cared as Kazayuki held him close and Mizuki held Kazayuki’s arms close to himself. Each one had a hand on Mizuki’s lower belly, where Kazayuki could feel the aura of their growing child.

* * *

“Will you move in with me?” Mizuki was looking at Kazayuki with a serious tone in his voice, making Kazayuki blink at him in shock. It was morning time and both freshly showered and enjoying a coffee, well Kazayuki was enjoying a coffee as Mizuki had some tea. They didn’t speak anything about Mizuki being pregnant after last night, so this question came as a surprise.

“Well,” Kazayuki rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t want to tell Mizuki no, but he still hasn’t told Mizuki about Ichirou. He was nervous, if telling Mizuki about Ichirou was a good thing or not. He would choose Ichirou over Mizuki and their unborn child if Ichirou wasn’t allowed to come with him. That’s what he was cautious about. “I have to tell you something.”

Mizuki sighed. “I knew it, you are a married man, or mated, whatever term you use.” He placed a hand on his lower belly. “I always find myself in these situations, though now it’s not just me, it’s our child.” Tears were filling his eyes as he looked at Kazayuki. “I won’t let you choose us over your love.”

“Now, when have I ever said I have another lover?” Kazayuki was finally able to talk. “I don’t have another and you know that. We’ve been together for a few months now.”

“That doesn’t mean you haven’t been sleeping with me behind your lover’s back. You won’t even invite me back to your place. It’s always my place.” Well, Mizuki made a perfectly good reason for Kazayuki, though it wasn’t true. Kazayuki kept his personal life, well hidden from Mizuki. He didn’t think their relationship would come to this, with a child on the way.

“Just let me explain, the reason I haven’t invited you over to my place is that I live with two roommates. They throw stupid parties and they wouldn’t understand me being with another man. I never told them I swing both ways.” Kazayuki was watching Mizuki’s face for any expression, though Mizuki’s expression didn’t look pleased with his answer. “And secondly, I have a son.” He dropped the bomb that may make or break them now.

“You have a son?” Mizuki looked slightly surprised. “I guess I never asked about your personal life. You say you don’t have another lover, so what of his mother?”

Kazayuki noticed Mizuki was taking this better than expected. “His mother signed her rights away to me. I actually didn’t even know I had a son until she caught up with me when my son was 2 years old already. Now, he’s five.” He saw the look in Mizuki’s eyes, a sign that Kazayuki could see was acceptance, Mizuki was going to accept Ichirou. What a relief.

“Then you should both move in with me. It might help Eliza accept the baby if your son is here. Not being the only child around.” Mizuki started to play with his lip piercing with his tongue. The only time he did that was when he was nervous. Kazayuki placed his coffee cup down and grabbed both of Mizuki’s hands.

“Stop worrying Mizuki. We will make this family situation work out, I promise.” Kazayuki kissed both of Mizuki’s palms. “Now, don’t stress about it, just continue what you are doing, I’ll move in once I tell my roommates and my son that we are moving.”

Mizuki smiled slightly and nodded his head. They both were going to deal with a big change and now they would have to deal with kids dealing with the big change. It was only a matter of time their family would have an addition to add to the changes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug use, child endangerment
> 
> Getting more into Ichirou's side of the story.

Telling his two bandmates that he was moving in with Mizuki was easy. Telling them Mizuki was pregnant wasn’t easy. They heard the tale of Lord Kamijo and they couldn’t believe it either, especially when Mizuki came with him to meet Ichirou. They were scared out of their minds at the idea that men could be impregnated.

Though, when Kazayuki introduced Mizuki to Ichirou, the small growled at him. The first sound Ichirou ever made, so it surprised them all. He never made a sound before and Kazayuki explained that Ichirou didn’t talk, but he was pretty smart for being five. Mizuki tried to smile and be friendly towards Ichirou, but Ichirou wasn’t having any of it.

Kazayuki knew this was going to be a hard transition for them, moving in with Mizuki and Eliza, but he was sure Ichirou would come around. Having their stuff packed up was probably Ichirou’s issue as he could play with his stuff till they moved. Kazayuki was thinking of every excuse he could think of for Ichirou, but the boy wouldn’t even look at him, the only way Kazayuki could tell what Ichirou was thinking when they made eye contact.

Once their stuff was moved over to Mizuki’s, he introduced Kazayuki and Ichirou and Eliza. A shy young girl with brown hair and stunning blue eyes. Kazayuki was friendly with her, though Ichirou was indifferent. He started crossing his arms over his chest and looking away from whoever was talking to him, even Kazayuki. The five-year-old was giving them attitude. They had placed Ichirou’s room beside Eliza’s so that when he came out of his room, the bathroom was just across the hall. The bedroom beside the bathroom was starting to get set up for the new baby.

They still haven’t told them about the baby on the way, not till they were sure the two children were accepting of the new change. It took a while to get Ichirou opened to the idea, this Kazayuki said he could set up his room the way he wanted it and paint it whatever color. He told them what he wanted in his room by finding pictures and even drawing and coloring what he wanted. Three walls of grey and the wall that was attached to Eliza’s room red and black checker pattern. He wanted his bed against that wall too, so his feet were facing his bedroom door when he laid in bed. They bought him a double size low bed and black dresser and bookshelf for his room. It was a dark and gloomy room, but Ichirou was grinning like a happy child with his new room.

Ichirou still didn’t speak a word to anyone but would growl at Mizuki anytime he touched Kazayuki. He was showing dominance, as Kazayuki said. That was the only excuse he could come up, though Ichirou never attacked Mizuki which was good. Eliza was more accepting of Kazayuki and Ichirou living with them, she was drawing pictures of the family of four, which Kazayuki praised her for her drawings. The three-year-old human girl was happy to have Kazayuki there, though unsure of Ichirou.

A few months of living with Mizuki, his belly started to round slightly and Eliza got curious and had asked. Mizuki and Kazayuki both decided it was time to tell them, even though Ichirou was still adjusting to the change, at least that what they could understand.

“Kazayuki and I have something to tell you both.” They had both kids sitting on the couch, Ichirou arms crossed over his chest, not looking at them, but Eliza was sitting pretty on the couch, back straight and hands on her lap waiting for whatever news the two were going to tell them.

Kazayuki looked at Eliza and smiled at her, she smiled back. Though, when he looked at Ichirou, his smile disappeared. Though, no smile on his face, his voice didn’t hide the fact he was excited to tell the children the news. “You're both going to have a little brother or sister.” Kazayuki watched as Eliza jumped up and dashed over to Kazayuki and Mizuki, hugging them both.

Ichirou just sat there and both Mizuki and Kazayuki looked at each other. What could they do to make Ichirou change his attitude? Kazayuki tried taking Ichirou to the doctors, but they could only tell him there wasn’t a problem with Ichirou, as he never talked before, though the growling, they expected that Ichirou knew about the pregnancy before they even told the kids. It could be a trust issue.

“Ichirou, you're going to be a big brother again. Aren’t you happy to be a big brother and watch and protect your siblings?” Mizuki walked over to Ichirou and sat beside him on the couch. Kazayuki could see Ichirou tensing up. Mizuki reached out and placed a hand on Ichirou’s shoulder. That was the first time Mizuki tried any contact with Ichirou and that was Ichirou’s snapping point as he growled and so how managed to turn fast and bite into Mizuki’s wrist. Kazayuki never disciplined Ichirou before so this was new to even him as he pulled Ichirou away from Mizuki. He dragged Ichirou to his room and tossed the boy like his wasn’t any heavier than a blanket, on the bed, and slammed the door.

Mizuki had gone to the kitchen to wrap his wrist up, but Kazayuki walked over to him and licked the wound Ichirou inflicted on him, sealing up and healing the bite. Healing properties of a Vampire’s tongue on a bite. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into him. This should be a joyous time for all of us, but his attitude.” He felt bad about this.

“Kazayuki, we knew this was going to take a while for the children to adjust, maybe we need to let him take it at his own pace and stop forcing him.” Mizuki hugged himself, so Kazayuki wrapped his arms around Mizuki and nuzzled his neck. “Maybe, we just need to wait.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to leave you here with him being angry. I thought things would be different now before I went on a small tour.” Kazayuki reminded Mizuki that he had a tour coming up and that would leave Mizuki with the children, as he was taking a small hiatus from his band.

“You are worrying for no reason. I just know I shouldn’t touch Ichirou, or he will lash out on me. He never had a problem with me being in the same room with him, I just have to watch what I do, that’s all.” Mizuki gave Kazayuki a reassuring smile. Kazayuki kissed Mizuki’s lips lightly as Eliza walked over with a new picture of a family of five.

“Lookie. I made family.” The three-year-old girl smiled happily, it seemed she wasn’t bothered by Ichirou and his attitude anymore, though she made the drawing of Ichirou frowning as everyone else was happy. She understood what was going on here, though she didn’t come off as bothered by it.

“That’s very pretty, Eliza. We should hang it on the fridge. Let me help you.” Kazayuki smiled and praised her work and took her over to the fridge, he could feel Mizuki’s eyes on him and feel that Mizuki was pleased with his actions to Eliza. Even though Ichirou was being difficult, Kazayuki always made sure to give Eliza attention. He just hoped he could get Ichirou calmed down before he left for the tour.

* * *

Kazayuki would be gone for over a week, meaning Mizuki had to take care of Eliza and Ichirou. That was the easy part for Mizuki, he had already set up a sleepover for Eliza to spend the week with her friend and family. He just didn’t know what he was going to do with Ichirou. He seemed to only come out of the room when he was hungry, which was fine for Mizuki in dealing with him, but he tried to make a conversation with Ichirou. Still, all he got anyone got was silence.

Ichirou spent the week in his room, he played a few video games that Kiyo said he could take with him when he moved. A few racing games and fighting games, but Ichirou would get bored with them easily. He would grab out paper and practice his writing. For a five-year-old, he had learned how to write cursive, well Kelly had taught him how. He wanted to write like she did, even though she tried teaching him how to print, he didn’t want to learn that way. So, if he wasn’t playing video games or playing with toys, he was practicing cursive writing.

Though, some might wonder what a five-year-old would write about, well he wrote sentences, like ‘the cat jumped from the tree’ or ‘the chicken picked at the ground’. He knew what words meant, he understood the language, but he refused to speak. He was told to keep his mouth shut, even as a baby, Ichirou remembered any time he cried, duct tape was placed on his mouth keeping him quiet. When he started learning to speak, that duct tape was back. That’s the only memory he had of his mother.

When he came to live with his father for some unknown reason, he had been taught to keep quiet enough times that he didn’t want the duct tape placed over his mouth. He understood them, he understood they wanted him to talk, but he refused. He knew as soon as he spoke, they would tape up his mouth. He knew it would happen, he was sure of it.

Meeting Mizuki for the first time, Ichirou could sense it, the growing fetus in him. He knew what this was meant. His father was trying to replace him with another child. Then moving in, he hated the fact there was another child, a girl this time. Was his father not happy with just him? He thought they had a special bond. Then Mizuki would touch his father, he growled at them. Mizuki was trying to take his father away from him to have more children, he could sense that. It was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but the air around Mizuki and Kazayuki would mix with this scent, a scent that made Ichirou feel funny in his pants, but not sure why.

Now, his father had left him for a week with Mizuki. At least if Eliza was here, he would be bothered by her wanting to play together. He didn’t have a big issue with Eliza now, just Mizuki, something about him told him he was bad news, besides stealing his father away from him. He watched the time, it was getting late, and knew he should sleep, though he wasn’t tired, like usual. Still, he knew Mizuki would check up on him to see him in bed and tuck the blanket over his shoulders. Mizuki didn’t touch Ichirou, just his blanket, so he had no reason to attack Mizuki again.

The first and last time he did, he felt anger from father, never had he felt that anger before and he realized he did something bad to be on the receiving end of that anger. He would make sure to never make his father angry with him again.

As if on queue, Mizuki came into the room to see Ichirou laying on the bed, asleep, though he was faking it. Mizuki covered him up and slipped out of the bedroom. Then he heard a second click, not just from the door closing, but it came from the door. He sat up and looked around his darkroom, nothing was different. He walked over to the door and tried the handle. It didn’t budge. Strange.

Then he heard Mizuki’s voice seem cheerful. He pressed his ear against the door.

“Oh, welcome guys.” Mizuki’s cheerful voice was heard. “Oh, how I missed having parties with you guys.” He laughed.

“You're with child, you shouldn’t be partying that hard.” A female voice was heard next.

“Let him have fun. Besides, the baby isn’t born yet. That’s when you should worry.” A younger male's voice was heard.

“Don’t worry I brought the rocks and nose candy. Let’s party!” A voice that seemed deep, coming for another male.

Ichirou backed up from the door and sniffed the air. Mizuki was out there, with at least five other people. And they were going to party? Ichirou heard enough slang talk from going on tour on the bus with Junji and Kiyo, nose candy was the stuff Junji sniffed, and rocks were the stuff Kiyo smoked. He didn’t know exactly what they were called, but he knew the slang words were for drugs. Ichirou never knew what drugs were but he could understand his father didn’t approve of them, but he didn’t say so to his band members, just told them to keep it away from him. Ichirou could guess now that Mizuki was keeping him away from the drugs, but how? Locking him in his room.

Ichirou flipped on the small lamp on his dresser and could see the doorknob was turned around. He had the ability to lock his door by pressing the center button on the knob, but he couldn’t now. When did this happen? Ichirou tried to remember, he didn’t seem to notice it till now. Must have been when he was having a bath and Mizuki brought him clothes to the bathroom. Mizuki never brought him clothes before.

Ichirou growled low in his throat. He was locked in his room and Mizuki had planned it. His hands balled into fists. He was angry now. He wanted to hit something, but he knew he couldn’t make any noise, Mizuki would come and check on him.

The only thing Ichirou could do was sit on his bed now and listen, listen to the chattering of people, and the low music. Though, after what seemed like an hour, the volume on the stereo turned up and Ichirou could feel the bass and the drumming in his chest. He couldn’t stand it, he needed to get out of here.

Getting off the bed, he tried the doorknob once again, still locked from the other side. He stared at the doorknob, wishing he could use the mind to unlock it. Though, that was impossible. Kelly said she could tell that he had a special ability, but he would have to figure out what it was when he was older. Kelly had her special ability to turn a part of her body to metal, well, turning her skin metal, but she hadn’t practiced it enough to fully make herself metal. Ichirou thought it was cool of her. He wondered why his father knew told him about having a special ability unique to him. He figured his father didn’t know he had one.

Having a special ability would be useful to Ichirou right now, but he needed to think this through. That’s when he noticed the small pinhole in the center of the doorknob. He got up and looked for something in his toys that was small enough to fit in the hole. He didn’t care if he was being noisy, he was sure the loud music was covering up the sound of him pushing his toys around and dumping them out on the floor. Finding nothing small or long enough to stick in the hole, he was at a loss again.

Looking around his room, his eyes landed on his pens and pencils he had to write with it. He looked through the small cup they were in, but nothing. They were all too thick. He sighed in defeat with a pen in his hand, he couldn’t get out. He would have to endure the sound and feel of the bass and drum in his chest. He brought his pen up to his mouth and starting chewing on the end, till he bit too hard and broke the plastic covering. Well, he should have realized it was a bad idea, picking the pieces up, and taking them to his garbage can, the ink cartage fell out of his hand. Feeling how thin it was and how big the hole was in the door, it might just work. He walked over to the door and stuck the ink cartage in, then fiddling with it a bit, he heard a click.

Ichirou grew into a smirk, he had successfully unlocked his door. Slowly turning the knob, he peeked out the door, just to see the bathroom shut. He crawled out on his hands and knees, sticking close to the wall, though he had to pass Eliza’s room, the door was open, and Ichirou got a full view. The scent alone made him feel funny in his pants, there a woman and a man, both naked and one on top of the other. He was only getting the side view of what they were doing, but the scent was affecting him. He quickly scurried away on his hands and knees. He quickly pressed himself against the kitchen island when he noticed they were in the living room. There weren’t many hiding places in the open concept area. He needed to get to the patio doors, to slip outside, that’s where it would be safe for him. Ichirou peeked around the corner of the island to see where the others were.

The sight Ichirou took in was a man, with his arm around Mizuki, sitting close to him on the couch, as Mizuki was lighting some pipe looking thing with a torch. He sucked in whatever it was before blowing it out. There was another female sitting in the armchair, sniffing something on her hand before laughing at whatever joke the man sitting next to Mizuki said. This was wrong, Ichirou knew it, if it wasn’t the scent from the bedroom that was effecting Ichirou, there was another smell affecting him.

Though he didn’t get to make another move when the back of his shirt was grabbed and he was lifted. “Mizuki, who the hell is this brat?” The man had a deep voice, making Ichirou want to shake, but he was pretty sure the stereo was just too loud now and was pounding in his chest.

Mizuki’s eyes widen as Ichirou could see. Ichirou wore a scowl on his face, and even in the position he was, being picked up by the back of his shirt, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Mizuki. He caught Mizuki doing something he shouldn’t be doing, but now he was caught sneaking out of his room. Was it really sneaking out of his room when he wasn’t told to stay there?

“Shit, that’s Kazayuki’s son.” Mizuki got up and walked over to Ichirou, looking at him at eye level as the man still didn’t put him down. “What are you doing up out of bed, Ichirou?” He may have asked Ichirou a question, but Mizuki wasn’t getting a reply.

“Oh, Mizuki, he looked like a mini Kazayuki. Let him stay up and hang out with us.” The female on the armchair said. Ichirou closed his eyes to roll them at her words. He didn’t want to be here, in this place anymore. His freedom was outside.

“No.” Mizuki huffed out. “You go straight back to bed, Ichirou.” The bigger man set Ichirou back on the floor on his feet.

Ichirou opened his eyes and looked up at Mizuki, a smirk played across his face. He knew how to get rid of Mizuki now. Seeing the smirk on Ichirou’s face, it looked exactly like the smirk Kazayuki had and Mizuki must have figured it. Especially since Ichirou ran away down the hallway, he knew his bedroom didn’t lock properly so that was no place to hide, instead, he ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut and locked it.

Mizuki was standing just outside the door and pounding his fist against it, as far as Ichirou could tell. “Get out here right now, Ichirou! You are in so much trouble.” Ichirou huddled in front of the door, pushing his weight against it, even though he didn’t weigh a whole lot. He had to wait, one more day, and his father would be home, he hoped.

* * *

Soon the chatter died down and the scent that Ichirou was getting a bad feeling about was gone. The other scent that made Ichirou feel funny in his pants before was there, but it wasn’t strong enough to affect him. He took the chance to unlock the bathroom door and peek out, the sky was still dark from what Ichirou could catch out the patio windows from the bathroom door.

Not seeing anyone, Ichirou got up and opened the bathroom door fully. He saw there was no one in Eliza’s room now, but that scent was still in there. He walked down the hallway and peeked around the corner to see inside the kitchen area, no one there. So, he kept walking slowly, the stereo was still blaring music out of it, though it had been turned down to a reasonable volume. Then, he looked into the living room area. No one was there, no one except Mizuki, passed out on the couch. Mizuki was sitting up in the corner of the couch, one foot on the floor, the other on the couch. His head was tilted back, his mouth slightly open, so he was probably asleep. His shirt was pushed up to show the small little bump he had from being pregnant and the pants he wore were not done up and Ichirou could see something he didn’t want to see.

Still, he was curious to see Mizuki in this state, this vulnerable state. So he walked closer to him, very carefully. Ichirou could see the drugs on the coffee table in front of the couch, but there was more than just white powder and the smoking pipe he saw Mizuki smoke from earlier. A few needles and a spoon were sitting out beside a lighter. Now he didn’t know what this was, but he wasn’t going to find out, not as the door to the condominium started to be fiddled with and slowly opening. Ichirou had ducked around by the armchair, not watching what he was doing, and peeked around the corner, it was his father, Kazayuki holding a flower arrangement of a dozen roses.

Ichirou noticed his father taking in the sight in front of him, seeing the drugs on the table, and then he looked down at Mizuki. “Oh, Mizuki, wake up!” Kazayuki started tapping the side of Mizuki’s face. Ichirou could guess he wasn’t responding, as Kazayuki pressed his ear to Mizuki’s chest. “Fuck, Mizuki. Don’t you die on me now.” Kazayuki growled as he picked up Mizuki. Ichirou guessed that his father knew what to do as he carried him to the bathroom in the master bedroom and Ichirou got up and followed. He was watching his father turning on the shower and sitting with Mizuki in the shower. It must have helped as Mizuki seemed to stir awake slow.

“Come, wake up.” Kazayuki was telling Mizuki and pushed his fingers to the side of Mizuki’s neck. “Fucking idiot. I’m not going to lose you, not now.” Kazayuki seemed angry as he slammed his fist against the faucet, shutting off the water. Next, Ichirou watched his father sink his fangs into Mizuki’s neck. What was his father doing? Was he killing Mizuki for being bad? He could only stand there and watch. Watch as his father slit his wrist and placed his bleeding wrist on Mizuki’s open mouth. He was whispering something in Mizuki’s ear and rubbing his neck up and down with his other hand. The wound that his father made from his bite on Mizuki’s neck still was slowly bleeding out.

Ichirou watched and waited only peeking half his face around the corner. He watched his father crying, tears of blood, watched as he pulled his wrist away from Mizuki’s mouth. Watching the bite wound on Mizuki’s neck heal itself. Waiting for something, even for his father to notice him, but his father didn’t seem to notice him at all.

A gasp was heard, coming from Mizuki’s lips. He was breathing again, something Ichirou barely noticed before that the other wasn’t doing. He coughed something harsh, blood spitting from his mouth. “Oh, Mizuki. Why, why did you do it?” Kazayuki was heard speaking in a hushed voice.

“Kazayuki? What, what happened?” Mizuki seemed to be out of it. “How are you here? Are you home now?” He still spoke slowly out to Kazayuki.

“Shh,” Kazayuki hushed Mizuki’s words. “It’s okay. You’re going to live now. Both you and the baby.” Kazayuki placed his hand on Mizuki’s belly.

“I’m so cold… Why am I cold?” Mizuki questioned again, but Kazayuki continued to shush him and rock him back and forth.

“Rest, sleep now. You need it.” Kazayuki told Mizuki, as Mizuki nodded his head and fell asleep in his arms. Ichirou watched his father pick up Mizuki with ease and undressed him down to nothing, before heading out of the bathroom. Ichirou fumbled around to get out of the bedroom before his father could see him, but as he stood up against the wall, something poked into his leg. He looked down to see a needle in his thigh and not only that but the needle had put something into him as the very tip had a liquid substance. Ichirou freaked and pulled the needle out and tried to make a dash for the door, but he tripped, his world spinning around him. Something didn’t feel right, he barely felt a thing. His father was in front of him, saying something with a frantic look on his face, but Ichirou couldn’t understand.

“Father?” Was the word spoken out of Ichirou’s mouth, very raspy sounding, but it was clear enough for Kazayuki to have a slight smile on his face as Ichirou’s eyes rolled back into his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I should write chapter summaries, because chapters are so short.  
> Tell me what you think.  
> Should I just write warnings, instead of summaries?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation...

Kazayuki was pacing in the living room, he couldn’t believe what was going on. He decided to come home early and surprise his new family with his arrival, only to find Mizuki passed out on the couch from a drug overdose. He tried to wake Mizuki but his heartbeat was barely there and he panicked. He had to, he had to turn Mizuki into a Vampire. The one thing he didn’t want to be responsible for was turning a human into a Vampire and them regretting it or him regretting it.

And if turning Mizuki into a Vampire wasn’t bad enough, he must have scared Ichirou because when he came out of the bathroom, Ichirou had a needle in his leg and the tip pushed in. The heroine going into Ichirou’s body. He freaked out, taking Mizuki to the bed and going to Ichirou. The drug wasn’t properly taken in Ichirou’s vein, but Ichirou was feeling the side effects hard. He had to make sure his son was alright, then he heard something he never thought he would ever hear, Ichirou calling him father.

Overwhelmed and shocked that Ichirou spoke, he had to remember. Ichirou just shot up some heroin and Kazayuki didn’t know exactly what was in the needle, and he didn’t know how much Ichirou injected, so he had to do the one thing no one should ever do, bite their child and drink their blood. He had ripped Ichirou’s pant leg open where he saw the needle go in and bit into his thigh, he had to get as much as he could out. He sucked back and drank enough of his blood to start to feel the effects of the drug in his system. He just hoped that was enough so Ichirou didn’t overdose on it.

Kazayuki had to curse himself, he promised himself to stay away from the drugs, he promised himself a long time ago when he got heavily into them, to never do it again, after experiencing an accident. But here he was, drinking what he could of his son’s blood to get the drug out of his system. He took Ichirou and laid him on the couch and let the drug take over his system.

He felt the effects of the drug, but he realized something else, where was Eliza? He got up and walked to her bedroom and turned on the light, there was a faint smell of sex in the room, making Kazayuki snarl in disgust, but her scent wasn’t in here, in fact, her scent hadn’t been in here for a long time, days it seemed. Then he looked at her closet and opened it. The backpack was gone, meaning she might have gone for a sleepover. At least Kazayuki hoped. He would have searched Mizuki’s phone for the number of Eliza’s friend’s parents, but he just had to keep calm for right now that she was with them and not kidnapped.

Kazayuki couldn’t stand the smell in this room and took all the bedsheets off and blankets, as well as pillows, and dragged them to the washing machine closet that was beside the bathroom door, closer to the front door. Doing laundry at this time of night was crazy talk, but the smell needed to go.

Turning around he noticed the drug mess on the table and he rolled his left shoulder. He was going to clean up this mess before Ichirou or Mizuki woke up. He needed to. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say to Mizuki, but maybe learning that he had to turn him in a Vampire might snap him out of his drug habit. Kazayuki knew about it, but he thought when Mizuki found out he was pregnant he stopped doing drugs, but he was wrong.

Ichirou, on the other hand, was a young Vampire. This kind of stuff he tried ever so hard to keep him away from. He wished he was here to stop it all. His poor little boy. He couldn’t take Ichirou anywhere that would help him. He was sure they would try and take him away, even though he wasn’t around to stop it. If they didn’t take away Ichirou from him, Mizuki would lose Eliza and their unborn child. He just couldn’t bear to deal with the loss of children. He would have to watch over Ichirou closely again.

Kazayuki sat down on the other end of the couch and sighed. What else happened here? What else was Ichirou exposed to? He wishes he knew. Glancing at Ichirou, Kazayuki noticed that Ichirou’s dark red eyes were wide open, staring at the back of the couch he was facing. “Ichirou, it’s okay. I’m here.” He reached out and grabbed Ichirou’s hand. Ichirou squeezed his hand a bit.

Ichirou seemed lost, like he wanted to do something, but could figure out how to move. Kazayuki could only guess as he knew what the heroine could do to a person. He sat Ichirou up on the couch. He switched on the TV and walked over to the kitchen area and got a glass of water, he searched the drawers for a straw and when he found one, he bought the glass over to Ichirou. “Here, drink some water.” He brought the straw to Ichirou’s lips and the boy took it, sipping lightly. “There you go. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere now, I’m staying right by yourself.” He set the glass down on the clean coffee table and sat back on the couch. Ichirou shifted or rather fell into his arm, so Kazayuki fixed Ichirou to sit against him as he put cartoons on for Ichirou, at least give Ichirou something to watch as the drug works itself through his system.

* * *

Kazayuki didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he opened his eyes the sun was up in the sky. He glanced at the clock on the wall and seen it was almost noon. He stretched his body and realized Ichirou was curled up beside him with his head on his lap. He smiled softly down at the young boy and petted his hair. This woke Ichirou with a start and the young boy sat up so fast and turned around to see Kazayuki there. He threw himself at Kazayuki in a hug, and Kazayuki couldn’t help but hug Ichirou back with a light laugh. “Well, It’s good you are doing well now. You didn’t look too good before.”

Ichirou narrowed his eyes at Kazayuki before he glanced down at his pants that were torn up the side of the leg, the only keeping his pants up is the waistband. Kazayuki could see Ichirou was trying to figure out everything in his head. He wanted to hear his son speak again, but he waited for Ichirou to try and remember anything from the night. Though, he was disappointed as Ichirou climbed off the couch and walked away, towards his room.

With a sigh, Kazayuki got up off the couch and walked into the master bedroom and looked at the bed where a nude Mizuki was laying. He walked over and touched his shoulder. Well, Mizuki’s eyes snapped open. Seems Kazayuki has the touch of waking up everyone this afternoon. “Are you awake? How do you feel?” Kazayuki sounded cold towards Mizuki.

“Um, I feel strange.” Mizuki placed a hand over his belly and gasped and sat up. His hand still on his belly. “I feel something.” He looked scared.

“That’s our baby you are feeling, you're probably feeling the pressure of their aura on your hand.” Kazayuki sat on the bed, elbows resting on his knees and hands together. “I need to know, do you know what happened last night?” He was serious, his face showed no emotion as he glanced at Mizuki from the corner of his eye.

Mizuki closed his eyes and tried to think, tried to find the words. “I had a few friends over, I didn’t see a problem of having them over.”

“It is a problem!” Kazayuki growled as he rocked himself a bit of the bed, his hands white-knuckling. “It’s a problem when I come home to you basically dying on the couch from shooting up heroin. Not to mention crack. I tasted it all in your blood as I had to drain as much as I could from your body so I could save you.” He couldn’t stand to sit on the bed anymore and stood up, looking down at Mizuki. “You almost died, you almost killed our child!” Kazayuki growled out as Mizuki brought his knees up, hugging them. “I can’t believe I trusted you to take care of the kids for one week, I thought you were done with drugs when you found out you were pregnant. You know how much damage you could cause to our child. I don’t even know if I should tell you what happened to Ichirou.”

Mizuki was in tears, sobbing silently. “I know, I know. I can’t help myself, I need that release, that feeling of numbing the edges of stress.” He looked up at Kazayuki. “I made sure to send Eliza away, I would have done the same with Ichirou, but he was here, so I locked him in his room. I never expected him to get out. He’s probably scared of everything he saw last night. I’m sorry, Kazayuki, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, he’s more than scared probably.” Kazayuki gritted his teeth together for a second. “He somehow got a needle in his leg and got strung out as you did. Lucky I was here when it happened to him, I saved him from near death for sure.”

“Oh my god. No, I-I’m so sorry. He should have stayed in his room. I was going to clean up. Oh my god, I hope he’s alright.” Mizuki looked so shocked, so worried hearing about Ichirou, but Kazayuki shook his head.

Kazayuki looked at Mizuki holding his hands out near Mizuki’s head, but he couldn’t find the strength to grab his head and kiss him. He wanted to hit him so badly out of rage. He pulled his hands back and turned around heading to the door. “I did what I could to fix the situation. I turned you last night, my last resort to save you and you are my mate now. Make sure you drink plenty of blood, our child is going to need it.” Kazayuki walked out of the bedroom and walked towards the hallway, down to Ichirou’s room. He looked down at the doorknob and knew what Mizuki meant by locking him in his room. “Ichirou.” He knocked softly on the door as he opened it up. “Hey, can you pack up a bag? We are going to stay elsewhere till I calm down.”

Ichirou was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking down at his hands, he didn’t even look at Kazayuki when he walked into his room. All he did was nod his head to Kazayuki’s question. Kazayuki walked into the room and placed a hand on Ichirou’s shoulder, which drew Ichirou’s eyes up to him and Kazayuki bent down to hug Ichirou. Ichirou sniffed and hugged him back.

Pulling away from the hug, Kazayuki ruffled his hair and walked out to head back to the master bedroom with Mizuki still sitting there crying on the bed. “Figure out what you want to do, I’m going to stay elsewhere till I have calmed down.” He walked over to the closet, pulled out a bag, and stuffed it with his clothes from the closet and drawers. He didn’t care what he grabbed, he knew his other clothes were still on the tour bus. A stop at the laundry mat would fix that situation. “Your daughter's sheets and blankets are in the washing machine. You really should keep your friends out of the kids' room. I’m pretty sure your daughter doesn’t want to sleep on dried cum stains.” He turned around to look at Mizuki. “Get fucking help, or I’m gone.” He spoke so coldly before leaving the room, seeing Ichirou standing by the door, waiting with his head down.

Kazayuki didn’t know where they were going to stay. Though, he needed to vent so he was going back to the old house he and Ichirou used to live at. He wasn’t going to spend the night there, knowing exactly what was planned for tonight. Ichirou has seen enough and he didn’t need to be exposed to more.

* * *

That night, Kazayuki managed to book a hotel room for two nights. That was the best he could do, as it seemed a lot of hotels had full rooms. Guess not everyone who moved to the city had the money to buy their own home and there weren’t many houses for rent, so the next best thing was renting a hotel room. He was told he could go and rent a love hotel room for two nights, which if he didn’t have Ichirou with him, he would have done after being told to the third time.

They got to their room on the second floor of the hotel and Kazayuki threw his bag in one of the chairs in the room and took his shoes off. There was only one bed, so he and Ichirou would be sharing the bed. He got on the bed and grabbed the TV remote and turned on the television set. Kazayuki was still angry about what happened. Even going over and venting to Junji and Kiyo, he was still fuming, he knew he needed a drink, a couple of stiff drinks, but he would be no better than Mizuki locking Ichirou in his room to get high.

Ichirou stood there, with his head down. Kazayuki looked at him, and let out a sigh. “Ichirou, you can come here. I’m not angry at you. What happened last night isn’t your fault.” He watched as Ichirou dropped his bag on the floor and removed his shoes before crawling on the bed beside him. Ichirou seemed to want to be close to him, so he put his arm around the boy and watched TV.

“If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen to you.” He felt Ichirou shake his head. Still, he couldn’t get Ichirou to speak. “You know I’m not going to be angry at you, right?” Ichirou nodded his head. “I also know you can speak, last night you called for me.” Ichirou sat up and looked down at Kazayuki, which Kazayuki looked away from looking Ichirou in the eyes. “I know what you are doing. We have a connection, father and son connection, and looking in your eyes I can read what you want, you even figured out how to express yourself with your face alone to get others to understand. I don’t want to be angry at you, but if you can speak I suggest you do, or I will get angry.”

“You’re not going to tape my mouth shut?” Ichirou's quiet voice spoke, a bit horse, but if he never talked his muscles had to get used to it. Kazayuki looked towards Ichirou, a soft smile on his face as he placed his hand on Ichirou’s cheek and stroke his cheek with his thumb.

“Now, why would I do that? I have never done that to you and why would I start.” Kazayuki raised a brow, he was puzzled by Ichirou’s response.

“I remember.” Ichirou looked down at his lap as his hands grabbed hard on his pants. “Before you, they always told me children are seen, not heard. As a baby, duct-taped my mouth. I had to learn.”

“You can remember that far back?” Kazayuki asked him, Ichirou nodded his head. Even Kazayuki had a hard time remembering his youth, a young boy. Years of being around and probably the drugs and drinking took a toll on his memories. “Well, I am your father and I’m never going to tape your mouth shut. You can speak as freely as you want. You are a child and if you want to say something, then do. Though, you shouldn’t repeat a lot of things that may come out of adults’ mouths. Okay?”

Ichirou nodded his head again. “I know. I learned watching. Kelly told me to not write.” Kazayuki ruffled his hair a bit. He was glad his son was speaking and without fear. It was going to take him some time to get used to it just from the broken language Kazayuki was hearing.

“Rest yourself. You’ve done enough today and I know you haven’t gotten enough sleep, my son.” Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou and Ichirou returned his smirk with his own. Like father like son. Kazayuki chuckled and turned the volume down on the TV and Ichirou removed his pants, before crawling underneath the covers, still curling up against Kazayuki. Kazayuki petted Ichirou’s hair for a moment till he heard the boy sigh. He smirked to himself now, he knew it was going to take a lot for Ichirou to be comfortable talking, but he was glad Ichirou opened up to him now. He now had to figure out what he was going to do about Mizuki. Sadly, being apart from Mizuki was pulling at him, telling him to go back to the other. He turned Mizuki and now there was a bond between them. If it wasn’t for their unborn child he may not have saved Mizuki, the thought made him feel guilty for even thinking about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An accident happens,  
> Ichirou is lost for words about the outcome.

Two days later…

“What’s with the scowl, kid? You got a diaper full?”

Ichirou was walking down the street with his backpack of clothes on his back. He was walking back to the condominium where he had lived for the past three months. He told his father that he could walk there by himself, he didn’t feel like sitting in the recording studio today. His father found out Mizuki had booked himself into rehab to deal with his addictions, but Ichirou had the feeling it wasn’t going to help now. Mizuki created a wall between him and Ichirou. Ichirou didn’t want to trust him anymore. Though, it wasn’t like he trusted him before.

As he walked down the street, few people called out to him, because he was a kid and should have been in school, but Ichirou didn’t go to school. He didn’t understand what school was about anyways. He learned plenty hanging around adults, what was he going to learn from kids his age? He didn’t care to make friends either. He continued walking till he got to the building that was his home if he could even call it home.

Getting up to the top floor, Ichirou dug out a key, the key to the door to his home. He put the key in and turned it before turning the handle and walked inside. He reached up to the keyholder and got the key ring hooked. He toed his shoes off and walked down the hallway to his bedroom. Though, as he passed Eliza’s room, he paused. Her bed wasn’t made, it had nothing on the bed, but Eliza was sitting there, crying.

Ichirou was caught off guard by this. If Mizuki wasn’t here, why was Eliza here? He stopped in her doorway and Eliza’s bloodshot blue eyes looked up and seen Ichirou and she jumped off the bed and rushed to him. If she had meant to tackle him, he would have been taken out by her, but instead, she hugged his waist and cried into his shirt.

“Ichirou, where is mama? He’s not here, and you and papa weren’t here either this morning.” Eliza sobbed in his shirt more. Ichirou didn’t know what to do, he just patted her head. She looked up at him looking like a crying snotty baby. Ichirou looked away from her face. He didn’t feel like talking to her, not yet. He nodded his head towards his room, and she must have gotten the hint and let him go, standing there now crying.

Slipping into his room, he saw how much of a mess he left his room in. Toys covering the floor and pens and pencils were scattered on the floor. He threw his bag on the bed and took off the shirt he was wear. He didn’t like the feel of tears and snot being soaked up by his shirt, so he grabbed another one from his closet. He was going to have to clean up his room, but he realized Eliza was here and it was close to noon.

Leaving his room, he grabbed Eliza’s hand as he passed her and walked to the kitchen. She sniffed and looked at him when he stopped. Ichirou hopped up on the counter and opened a cupboard where cereals and other kid snacks were held. He pointed to one of the cereal boxes, as he watched Eliza.

“No, I want a sandwich,” Eliza whined, Ichirou rolled his eyes. If it was cereal, it would be easier for him. He hopped down from the counter and grabbed the bread sitting there. He passed it to Eliza. He opened the fridge and looked inside, grabbing cheese, meat, mustard, mayo, and ketchup. He took everything to the dining table, before going back into the kitchen and grabbing a butter knife.

“You can’t use that. Mama will be mad.” Eliza was trying to warn Ichirou. Ichirou looked at her with a hard look that made her sink on the chair she had climbed up on with the bread. Ichirou got on his chair and started making Eliza her sandwich first. Two pieces of bread, cheese, meat, ketchup. He slid the sandwich over to her. “What about plates? You know mama will be mad.”

Ichirou didn’t even bother to look at her as he made his sandwich of meat, mayo, and mustard. He put the knife down on the table and he picked up his sandwich and took a bite, and then looked at Eliza as he chewed. She nodded her and picked up her sandwich. “Thank you, Ichirou.” Eliza started eating her sandwich.

Ichirou looked around the living room, it was cleaned up. His father did clean it, so that meant Eliza’s bed still needed to be made. He would get to that and cleaning up his room. Though, before he got to that, he needed something. His hunger was starting to claw at him. The sandwich wasn’t going to satisfy his hunger. He climbed off the chair, after shoving the last bite of the sandwich into his mouth and walked over to the fridge. He opened up the freezer compartment on the bottom, where his father kept extra blood packs. There were only two left and the fridge had none when he was pulling out stuff for sandwiches. He set them both on the counter.

Cold blood wasn’t his fancy, blood could freeze, but it was like eat slush when it thawed out. He couldn’t even warm it up fast. So Ichirou's choice was to grab a heating blanket. He moved over to where the washing machine was, and pulled the heating pad down from the closet close by. Eliza’s bedding was still in the washing machine, so he even started that again, because of the musty smell they had from sitting in there for almost three days.

With a heating pad and grabbing a frozen blood pack from the counter, he moved to sit in the living room with the blood wrapped in the heating pad. Eliza must have finished her sandwich because she walked over to Ichirou and sat down beside him. “You shouldn’t drink that. That’s for big people.” The three-year-old girl pointed out.

Looking at her, Ichirou opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t speak. He scowled at her and showed her his fangs that were hidden by his upper lip. “Oh, Lexi has those too. She isn’t allowed to drink big people drink though. She drinks from her mama. He gives Lexi his wrist, like this.” Eliza showed Ichirou her wrist and to Ichirou he could see her pulse. The small little veins pumping through her small little wrist, Ichirou didn’t realize he was drooling and licking his lips. “Ichirou, is something wrong?” Eliza stopped showing her wrist and went to feel his forehead. This made Ichirou jump from her action and he moved away from her. He couldn’t do it, he wasn’t old enough to bite someone, at least that’s what his father told him. His father said biting was for feeding, but it was for mating as well. Ichirou didn’t understand that, but after seeing what his father did to Mizuki, he kind of got the hint. He looked down to his lap, the heating pad was warmer now, but he could see feel the coldness of the blood pack. He needed it now.

Biting into the blood pack, he sucked what he could of the liquid that wasn’t frozen, but he had to tear into the plastic to make the holes bigger and tilt the blood up, letting the slush blood pour into his mouth. He could see out of the corner of his eye the Eliza was curious, her three-year-old mind was watching closely. Once he had finished drinking it all back, he shivered a bit, his body temperature was already cool, but adding a colder substance into his body made him cold. He wished he could have warm fresh blood than he wouldn’t be so cold.

“Ichirou, can we go swim?” Eliza was looking out toward the patio, where they had their private swimming pool. It was deep, but he knew Eliza to be a good swimmer, at least Mizuki made sure Eliza knew how to swim. Really, Mizuki made sure Eliza understood and learned a lot. Eliza was smart for her age, at least Ichirou figured. He was absorbent at her age, taking in everything around him, so he wasn’t sure her smarts were a normal thing for a human.

Ichirou gave a nod of his head. Why not go for a swim? She would get tired out and fall asleep and he could get around to cleaning his room and make her bed, at least he figured swimming would tire her out. He got up off the couch, threw the blood pack in the garbage, and headed down the hall to his room. He was once again reminded of the mess in his room. He shuffles through the toys on the floor to the dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of swimming trunks. “Ichirou, help me!” Eliza called out, though she didn’t sound distressed, so he got his swimming trunks on first before going to Eliza’s room. She was trying to put on a two-piece swimsuit that seemed to have multiple arm straps, she was tangled.

Ichirou shook his head and walked over to her to remove the garment. Then he looked at it, he wasn’t sure what was the front or back, and where the arms when, or even the head. He tossed it aside. “I want to wear it, Ichirou. Please?” She begged him, sitting on the floor in the lower part of her swimsuit. He ignored her plea and pulled out a top from another suit that was pretty simple to understand how it went on and a one-piece swimsuit. She had her choice and even with a pout, she pointed to the top. So, he helped her get it on and fix her hair from being trapped in the swimsuit. He held his hand out to her and they both walked out to the patio.

The pool wasn’t huge to swim laps, but it was nice and refreshing for the hot days. There were steps to walk into the pool, but then after the steps, there was a drop that no even Ichirou could touch the bottom. So he knew to stay on the steps. He got his feet in the pool and sat on the steps and watched as Eliza walked out on the steps farther than him. Eliza knew she couldn’t go off the steps unless there was an adult around, so Ichirou wasn’t worried. He watched her do her doggy paddle around and above the steps, she made sure to stay by the railing so she could grab it if she got tired. Ichirou wasn’t much for the water, but the more used to it he got, he moved down the steps one at a time, till his head was the only thing sticking out of the water. Eliza wanted him to hold her hands so she could practice kicking her feet, which he didn’t mind.

After about an hour of Ichirou sitting in the pool and Eliza swimming around, it was time for them to go in, or rather Eliza was tired of swimming. He let her walk up the steps first and he followed after her. Though with them splashing around, Ichirou forgot that the patio would be slippery. He watched as Eliza placed her foot on the patio and as if in slow motion she lifted her other foot, making her lose her footing and slipped forwards, smashing her head on the patio.

A scream like cry hit Ichirou’s ears, the high pitch scream made him want to cover his ears, but he had to see if Eliza was okay. He made her get up on her knees, as he was kneeling in front of her and sees the blood pouring down her head from a deep gash on her forehead. Now, Ichirou was panicking. There was blood flowing down Eliza’s face and dripping off her chin and she was crying in pain. Perhaps it was the water in her hair that was making this scene so bloodied to Ichirou. The scent of blood was making him drool, but he was worried about Eliza.

Not thinking, Ichirou pressed his hand against her forehead where the gash was, Eliza cried harder. He wrapped his other arm around Eliza and brought her closer to him. He was scared of what to do, he knew he should have been doing something else to help, but what? He closed his eyes tightly and rocked Eliza against him. He focused on the blood flowing on his hand as he applied pressure, he felt the need to fix it, to stop the blood flow. Then, he felt his hand warm against her wound, he didn’t think anything of it, it was probably the blood warming his hand.

Soon, Eliza’s pain-filled crying became soft sobs, Ichirou pulled her away from him to see if she had fall sleep, but her bright blue eyes were looking up at him. Her face was blood-stained, her brown wet hair had blood in it where it stuck to her face. “Ichirou, it doesn’t hurt.” She sniffed and Ichirou pulled his hand away from her head. Blood still wet on his hand when he pulled it away, he looked and where the blood had poured from before was a clean patch of skin. He blinked. He poked at it, she didn’t flinch. “You fixed me, Ichirou. What did you do?”

Ichirou was a loss for words, even if he didn’t speak. How did it happen? How did she heal? Humans didn’t have the healing capability like Vampires. So what happened? He looked at his hand, the scent of the blood now taking over his reason to think straight. The panic in him subsided. He brought his bloodied hand to lips, he was drooling to taste it and he started licking at his hand. Eliza looked at him with shock and pushed away from him. “Gross, Ichirou.” She ran inside. Though, Ichirou wanted more of the warm sweet taste of blood. He got up and started to stalk inside seeing she had run around the corner down the hallway. He was making his way down the hallway when the door to the suite opened.

“Ichirou, what’s going on?” Kazayuki voice was heard but didn’t register with Ichirou’s mind at the moment, the scent of blood filled his nose. It must have done the same to Kazayuki before he spotted Ichirou’s bloodied hand and rushed over to him. “Stop it, Ichirou!” He grabbed Ichirou and held him back, Ichirou struggled, kicking and scratching at Kazayuki, growling in a frenzy. He was being taken away from Eliza’s bedroom door, though the hunger didn’t help him clear his vision of what was going on till he was hit with ice-cold water being sprayed at him. He shivered, unsure of what was going on. Why was he in the shower? Why was his father holding him so tight? He looked down and watched the last of the blood flow down the drain, the blood that was clinging to his body was gone.

“Ichirou, are you okay?” Kazayuki lifted his chin and made Ichirou look at him. Ichirou had calmed down, the whites of his eyes were no longer red. “Stay here. I have to check on Eliza.” Kazayuki put Ichirou down in the shower stall, the icy cold water still going as he left Ichirou. Ichirou shivered some more, what just happened? Why did he need to attack Eliza? He helped her, somehow, and the taste of her blood made him see red in hunger. He hugged himself as he slides down the wall of the shower, shivering, but not caring for the cold. So many questions raced through Ichirou’s head, but none could be answered.

It was only a few moments later that Kazayuki walked back into the bathroom that was apart of the master bedroom. He had cursed under his breath as he shut off the water and Ichirou could feel his eyes on him. Ichirou lifted his head to see his father with a worried expression on his face. “I don’t know what happened.” Ichirou's hoarse voice was low.

“Don’t worry. Eliza told me you were both swimming and she slipped. She said you fixed the wound on her head, but then your eyes turned red completely and she knew she had to get away from you. Don’t worry, you only scared her a bit when you started following her.” Kazayuki bent down to Ichirou’s level. “She’s a smart girl, Ichirou. She knows more about us, Vampires, because her best friend is a Vampire. But I have to ask, how did you heal her wound?”

Ichirou looked down at his hand, he wasn’t even sure. “I don’t know. I just pushed on her head with my hand.”

“You didn’t lick her head?” Kazayuki asked, which made Ichirou shake his head back and forth. Kazayuki let out a sigh and picked the bridge of his nose. “You must have some kind of power. I know Vampires with abilities to do certain things, but I never had one myself. That could be it.” Ichirou blinked, he knew of special abilities. Kelly told him about it, so he had a unique ability to heal? He looked at his hand, he wasn’t sure if it was possible, but could that be why the wound on Eliza’s head disappeared? “All I know is Eliza’s a bit pale, she lost some blood, so you closed up the wound, but she needs to restore her blood so she is eating some cookie on the couch and drinking some orange juice.”

Nodding his head, Ichirou let Kazayuki pick him up out of the shower stall and carry him out of the master bedroom, he glanced at the couch where Eliza was sitting there, wrapped up in a blanket, freshly bathed, eating her cookies. She smiled at Ichirou and he turned his head away, nuzzling into his father’s neck.


	7. Chapter 7

Three months later…

Kazayuki had spent more time at home with the two children, Ichirou and Eliza. He had made sure to keep the two children occupied and Ichirou got more comfortable talking, though he gave Eliza one-word answers. It was a small progress. Kazayuki still had to go to the studio with his band members, so he had taken the kids with him the first few times until Ichirou told him he could take care of himself and Eliza. Though the young boy was only five years old, he had to trust that Ichirou was going to be okay alone with Eliza. He had set up a few cameras in the condominium that would give him a video feed of everything the children did. He had to take precautions.

Leaving the children at home had stressed out Kazayuki, but with rules set out, he found he was worrying for no reason. Ichirou had done exactly what he was supposed to in taking care of Eliza. Kazayuki made sure to set out the rule of no using the swimming pool and no playing in their bedrooms. Which left them the open concept area of the living room, kitchen, and dining area to play. He had set up a few cameras in that area and one down the hallway. He didn’t want to be too overprotective.

The first few days, Kazayuki was always looking at his phone, watching the feeds. Even got some criticism from Junji about his parenting, leaving Ichirou alone with Eliza. Ichirou wasn’t old enough to stay home by himself. Kazayuki could get a nanny, but he didn’t know how that would work out as Ichirou was still silent around others. He even talked to Lexi’s mother about Eliza, as he had never stayed home with her without Mizuki around. Lexi’s mother said Kazayuki was doing what he could under the circumstances since Mizuki was in rehab. As long as Mizuki was coming back, Eliza adoption would stay.

It had been a relief for Kazayuki until Mizuki’s band decided to go on hiatus. That’s when rumors started going around about Mizuki, since he was the one to go on hiatus first, and now the whole band was. Rumors started, then the press was scouting out the condominium. Kazayuki wasn’t known for living with Mizuki, so he wasn’t hounded, but it wasn’t until one day the press had figured out which suite was his and had appeared knocking on the door. He stood there watching them, talking about a little boy slamming the door in their face and trying to come up with a story of just who that boy was.

Kazayuki had to push past the reporters and shot them all a glare with his red eyes, making the press back up and let him inside. When he opened the door and shut it quickly, there on the couch was Mizuki. He stood up with a smile on his face, and his rounding belly sticking out.

“When did you get home?” Kazayuki said, as he walked over to him and wrapped his arms around Mizuki, the bond he had created between them was reconnected. Months of being apart had made the bond disappear, but now it was thriving again. “Oh, I missed you so much, Mizuki.” He pulled back and looked down at Mizuki’s belly and placed his hand on the bump.

“I got home early this morning, probably after you left. I’ve been doing well, the baby is active as ever. The doctors said it was good that I came in when I did, they have been taking care of me and the baby.” Mizuki rubbed his belly with his other hand on his lower back.

“Oh, sit down.” Kazayuki helped Mizuki sit down and he sat beside him. He looked healthy, even glowing now. “You must be getting close now. Are you sure you are going to be alright now?”

Mizuki rolled his eyes at Kazayuki’s words. “I’m fine. I got the help I needed. Now, my mind is solely focused on bringing our baby into the world. They’ll be here any day now and I wanted to be close to our family before we bring home our little bundle of joy.” Kazayuki placed a hand on his belly again and felt the aura the baby gave off. It was bigger than before and seemed to be thriving.

Ichirou and Eliza came close, both looking at them, Kazayuki smirked. “Come on, you guys.” He waved them over and Eliza, with a big smile, bounced over and hugged Mizuki’s belly. Ichirou rolled his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest, and sat on the couch close to Kazayuki.

“I heard Ichirou speaking to Eliza today, but he hasn’t said a word to me.” Mizuki made Kazayuki change his focus from him to Ichirou. He put an arm around Ichirou and sighed.

“Yeah, it’ll take some time. He’s already trusted me and starting to trust Eliza.” Kazayuki ruffled Ichirou’s head. “He’s just got to realize that we won’t be hurting him.” Ichirou looked up at Kazayuki with narrowed eyes, before looking away. He could only smirk at Ichirou’s actions.

* * *

Mizuki being home for over two weeks, meant Kazayuki was calling and checking up on him more and more. He trusted Mizuki not to fall back on his old habits, but he also was worried that he wouldn’t be able to reach Mizuki in time to get to the hospital. Especially that morning, Mizuki complained about an ache, but he told Kazayuki to go to work.

Ichirou had watched Mizuki pack up a bag of clothes and stuff for Eliza. He stood outside Eliza’s room as the two inside packed up a bag. He knew what this meant, Eliza was going over to her friend’s place again. Ichirou remembers the last time Mizuki and Eliza had done this, it led up to the party. He kept giving Mizuki glares whenever he looked at Ichirou, but ignored him with a smile and continued.

Then the doorbell rang, it was different than the knocking and shouting of reporters wanting an interview. Ichirou headed to the door, as Mizuki asked him to see who it was this time. Ichirou could sense it was someone new, not the usual reporters so he walked to the door, pulled up a chair that he had taken from the dining table awhile ago, just to look for Mizuki as he had been struggling to get up with his belly. Peaking out the peephole, Ichirou recognized it to be a man, a man that didn’t look like a reporter. There were two reporters behind the man, trying to ask him questions, but he wasn’t giving in.

Ichirou hopped down and moved the chair away from the door and unlocked the door. He twisted the doorknob and cracked it open to peek out with his eye. “Hello, I’m Lexi’s mom.” That was all Ichirou needed to hear and he stepped out of the way as he opened the door slightly and the man, who was Lexi’s mother, stepped in fast and shut the door. Ichirou moved closer to him and locked the door behind the newcomer. He was told to make sure the door was locked at all times. He realized that he was short, short than Mizuki.

“Oh, Yomi. Thank goodness you got in without much of ruckus. I know the reporters just won’t let up. They always have something new to report about me.” Mizuki had come out of the bedroom, holding Eliza’s backpack and Eliza’s hand. “I’m so sorry to ask you to take Eliza again.”

“No worries. I’m glad to take Eliza anytime. Lexi is always asking about her and wanting her to spend the night again and again. They are getting close like sisters.” Yomi, the newcomer, laughed lightly, almost angelic like. That’s when Ichirou noticed the sharp points of fangs. A Vampire.

“Well, I’m not sure, but I think it’s almost time. I hope you don’t mind keeping Eliza from now till I come home from the hospital. Of course, you guys can come to the hospital when I go into labor.” Mizuki smiled. Yomi took the bag from Mizuki.

“Not a problem. We always enjoy having Eliza and she can stay as long as you need. How has it been since you turned?” Yomi asked, noticing Mizuki’s fangs when he smiled. Ichirou could only guess Mizuki hadn’t told anyone.

“Oh, the craving is strange, but my little one just dances around.” Mizuki placed a hand on his belly.

“Oh, Lexi and Niko were the same way. I think all little vamps love it when mommy has her fill of blood. I’m guessing you are having a little vamp then.” Yomi placed a hand on Mizuki’s belly. “Oh, that feels like a hand. Must be close now, if they have already turned.”

Mizuki nodded his head. Ichirou stood there with his hands crossed over his chest, he was starting to get annoyed by all this talk about babies they were having. He started to tune them out before Mizuki bent down to kiss Eliza and hug her. Yomi unlocked the door and took Eliza’s hand. Ichirou stepped up to the door and flashed Mizuki a glare, which Mizuki took a few steps back from the door as Ichirou opened the door for Yomi and Eliza. He closed the door as quickly as he could with Eliza waving goodbye to him. He smirked at Eliza.

The door locked once again, Mizuki was panting a bit as he leaned against the wall, it took a few short moments for Mizuki to regain composure and walked over to the couch. He picked up his phone when it started ringing. “Hello, Kazayuki.” “Yes, I’m fine.” “Eliza has gone over to Lexi’s.” “Alright, I’ll see you later.” The phone call ended. Ichirou had walked over to the kitchen and was pulling out a blood package for himself. Mizuki must have smelt the blood. “Ichirou, may you get me some blood?” He rolled his eyes and grabbed another for the fridge and brought it over to him. Mizuki looked at the blood package in his hand, he looked like he was going to be sick as if drinking blood wasn’t something he wanted to do. He had no choice now.

Ichirou walked away as Mizuki bit into the pack and started drinking it. Ichirou walked back to his bedroom and got out some paper and pens. He used a book he had as a table for his paper and started writing. He knew he had to practice writing, his cursive writing was getting better the more he tried and he was able to make the writing smaller now. Instead of using two lines for the height of a letter, he was now writing on one line.

Practicing sentences after sentences of anything that came to mind, he felt a shift in the air. He sniffed the air and something seemed different. He got up and walked down the hall and looked in the open concept and seen Mizuki standing there, a wet liquid trickling down his legs from the shorts he was wearing, Mizuki was on the phone. “Yes, I think my water broke. Just hurry.” Mizuki hung up the phone as a pain washed over him that had him hunching over.

Ichirou walked into the room and looked at him. Mizuki glanced at Ichirou. “Oh, good. I might have to get you to call-” Another wave came over Mizuki as he had tried to past his phone to Ichirou. Ichirou grabbed the phone. “Oh, I need to wait for your father. Please, wait little one.” He had a hand on his belly. Ichirou was looking at the phone and looking at Mizuki. Mizuki moved away from the mess on the floor and walked over to a chair beside the dining room table. He was starting to sweat, faintly, but he wasn’t panting as heavily as before.

Walking up to Mizuki, Ichirou held out his phone to him. He looked at it and Ichirou. “You keep it. You might need to call the hospital if it gets too bad for me. I’ll tell you to make the call.” Ichirou nodded his head and placed the phone on the dining table, as he sat in a chair near Mizuki. Mizuki reached out and took a hold of Ichirou’s hand, which made him flinch, but he didn’t lash out or take his hand away, Mizuki was in enough pain. “I want you to know, I’m sorry for what happened. I wasn’t thinking like an adult. I’m sorry, Ichi-” Another wave came over Mizuki and he was still holding Ichirou’s hand, Ichirou flinched from the pain, he was sure Mizuki was breaking bones in his small hand but he kept a straight face as Mizuki’s face scrunched up in pain. “Where is your father? He should be here by-” Mizuki was cursing under his breath as another wave came.

As the wave calmed down, Mizuki let go of Ichirou’s hand and curled up to rest his head on his arm as he panted against the table. Ichirou looked down at his hand and tried to flex his hand, but it was stiff from being squeezed. He picked up the phone and scrolled to find his father’s number and pressed the call button.

After two rings, Kazayuki’s voice was heard on the other end. “Mizuki, sorry. I’m coming as fast as I can. There seems to be something going on the street, maybe a car accident. I can’t seem to get around at the moment.” Ichirou growled into the phone. “Oh, Ichirou, I thought it was Mizuki. Please, can you just call an ambulance for Mizuki? I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get around, but I’ll meet you guys at the hospital. Can you do that for me?”

“Fine,” Ichirou said hanging up the phone. His voice made Mizuki look up at him, he called the hospital numbers, since it was an easy number to remember, and there wasn’t an emergency number to call on the island. He shot Mizuki a glare as the operator picked up. Ichirou explained the situation and gave their address and hung up the phone.

“Where’s your father? Isn’t he on his way?” Mizuki asked Ichirou, as the boy got up off the chair and walked to the master bedroom that was near the living room area. Ichirou knew what was needed. His father had told him that if Mizuki went into labor to grab the hospital bag that was already packed up. That was Ichirou’s job to remember if they rushing out of the house. He grabbed the bag from the closet and came back out to see Mizuki had gotten off the chair but was kneeling on the ground in pain. It was his fault for getting off the chair in the first place, Ichirou thought to himself. He placed the bag beside the door and pulled the chair up to the door, thinking ahead, before walking back over to Mizuki. The wave of pain had passed, and even more, wetness was there between Mizuki’s legs. Ichirou grabbed Mizuki’s upper arm and picked him up with his help to sit back in the chair. No words were spoken for the moment until a knock came from the door.

Ichirou rushed over to the door to see two men standing there with a medical logo on their shirts and a stretcher. He moved the chair away and unlocked the door once again. He opened the door for them. Mizuki waved them over, and Ichirou looked at the two reporters there in the hallway. He glared hard at them, before he hissed at them, showing his fangs. That must have spooked them because they took the door that led to the stairwell. Ichirou grabbed the hospital bag and stood out in the hallway, holding the elevator button. The two paramedics had Mizuki on a stretcher and they started rolling Mizuki out of the suite, as Mizuki told the last one to just lock the handle. The elevator door opened and the paramedic thanked Ichirou as they put Mizuki in and they followed with Ichirou being the last to get into the elevator.

* * *

Sitting in the waiting room wasn’t fun for Ichirou. Mizuki was taken to a room and as his father promised, he had made it to the hospital and was taken to Mizuki, not even stopping to talk to Ichirou. Delivering a baby was on their minds. It felt like hours now, and still no sign of his father coming out for him.

“We don’t know, it’s rare but the baby has two genders.”

“So, a hermaphrodite? Well, guess it’s bound to happen.”

“How can you raise a child with two genders? Are they a boy or a girl?”

“Guess the parents will have to decide how they raise the child, but the child will decide when they are older.”

Ichirou was eavesdropping on a conversation two nurses were having. A baby born with two genders was the topic, as far as Ichirou understood. He wondered if was his new sibling. He wasn’t sure how he would react if it was. Well, knowing now there was a baby like that, he wouldn’t be surprised now. Well, being two genders couldn’t be all that bad, he could treat his new sibling like a boy, and Eliza can have her little tea parties with the new baby, play dress-up with them. They could treat it like both genders, at least Ichirou thought.

The doors Ichirou had come from when he came to the hospital opened to Eliza and the short man, Yomi. They both saw Ichirou and walked over to him. “Have you see the new baby?” Eliza asked Ichirou.

Looking up at Yomi then back at Eliza he shook his. “No.” The short reply to her and Eliza started to pout. Yomi had walked away from them to the front desk and was talking to the nurse at the desk there. The nurse nodded his head and got up and walked down the hallway the Ichirou remembered his father going down.

Yomi came back over. “The nurse is just going to check if they want visitors. I told them that you are all family.” He sat down in the chair beside Ichirou and Eliza took the seat beside Ichirou.

Now Ichirou felt the pressure of two people beside him, he didn’t know why he was feeling the pressure. He got up and turned around to face them. “Hermaphrodite.” He spoke the word clear out as he looked at Eliza, who was confused by the word, but Yomi leans on his knees.

“What was that, Ichirou?” Yomi asked Ichirou, but Ichirou was staring at Eliza.

“What’s a her-mat-for-dyke?” Eliza tried sounding out the word, but the three-year-old could only sound out what she thought Ichirou said.

“Our new baby is.” Ichirou had his eyes on Eliza, but he could see from the corner of his eye that Yomi seemed to be deep in thought now. He didn’t know for sure, but no one else had come into the delivery room, so he had to guess.

The nurse came back and looked at everyone. “Kazayuki says it’s okay to come to see the new baby. Mizuki is tired and sleeping, he had a bit of surgery, so don’t disturb him.” Yomi nodded his head and grabbed Eliza’s hand, Ichirou grabbed the hospital bag he had since leaving the condominium and slung it on his back and followed Yomi and the nurse to the room.

Inside the room was clean, it was clean smelling at least Ichirou could pick up. He Mizuki sleeping with a blanket covering his whole body and Kazayuki was sitting with a small bundle in his arms on a chair a the foot of the bed. He was smiling at the new addition to the family and looked up when they walked in. Ichirou sniffed the air, there was a small hint of blood in the air through all the clean smell.

“Come meet your sibling. This is Yuriel.” Kazayuki spoke softly as Eliza rushed over to him and looked down at the baby, she was in awe of the new baby. Ichirou walked over and looked at the baby, it looked like any baby on TV, just smaller. Though he couldn’t tell what it was, it looked like a girl, but it looked like a boy. He looked up at his father.

“Hermaphrodite.” The word that Ichirou spoke again, made his father’s face drop all emotion.

“Yes, Ichirou. Yuriel is both a boy and a girl. We aren’t sure how it happened.” Kazayuki looked up at Yomi, and Yomi nodded his head in understanding. There were multiple reasons for it to happen, as they had their suspicions. “Yuriel will still be loved and we will all take care of Yuriel.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He understood his father was telling him that he had to take care of Yuriel just like he had learned to accept Eliza and take care of her. Though, Ichirou knew his father and Mizuki weren’t going to leave Ichirou to look after him by himself, just when he was asked. He set the bag down by the chair, as his father passed the baby to Yomi and picked up Eliza on his lap. He walked over to Mizuki, the scent of blood was more noticeable the closer he got.

“Oh, Ichirou stay over here. Mizuki is sleeping.” Ichirou heard his father say, but Ichirou ignored him. Mizuki’s bed was low enough that Ichirou could see Mizuki’s full body covered in a blanket. He felt the warm sensation in his palm and looked down at his hand, nothing was there. But it felt the same. He raised his hand and held it over Mizuki’s body and applied a bit of pressure where Mizuki’s belly was, closing his eyes. “Ichirou, what are you doing?” Kazayuki removed Eliza from his lap, and about to get up, but Yomi grabbed his arm.

“I’ve seen this before. One of the doctors here knows how to heal wounds and broken bones with just his hands, the doctor even helped cure me of my throat problems. Ichirou must be healing him.” Yomi told Kazayuki. “Ichirou must have something similar to the doctor’s unique ability.”

“Well, I don’t know, but he did heal Eliza’s head once of a wound. I wasn’t there but they both said it happened. I saw the bloodied mess after.” Kazayuki said as he sat back down and Eliza climbed on Kazayuki’s lap again.

Ichirou kept his hand over the top of Mizuki’s belly and seen as if he could see with his own eyes the insides of Mizuki, what tissues were wounded and he focused on those that were damaged. Healing them with Mizuki’s blood. The blood became solid tissue again, and Ichirou just kept focusing on more of the wounds. Rebuilding the damaged tissue with Mizuki’s blood, manipulating it to repair what was cut or damaged. He didn’t notice how much work went into this, he didn’t even know how lightheaded he became till Yomi had placed his hands on Ichirou’s shoulders.

“Sit down, Ichirou. You have done enough, your weakening yourself. This is probably the second time you have tried something like this.” Yomi was barely whispering, but Ichirou nodded his head and removed his hand and opened his eyes. The world was spinning for him and he stumbled back and if it weren’t for Yomi he would have passed out and fallen on the floor. Instead, he passed out in Yomi’s hold.

* * *

The next time Ichirou woke up was in his bedroom. He slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes, why was he at home? Wasn’t he just at the hospital? Then the cry of a baby was heard, and Ichirou walked over to his closed door. He noticed now that the handle had been turned back around. Now he could lock himself in his room. He opened the door and seen the bedroom directly in front of his door had a light on and Mizuki sitting on a chair as Kazayuki was passing him the baby.

Ichirou walked over and stood in the doorway and leaned against it as he was watching Kazayuki smiling down at the baby, sitting on the chair’s arm, and Mizuki feeding the baby with a bottle. He watched them until Kazayuki looked up and waved him over. “Ichirou, I’m glad your up. The doctor said you wore yourself, you’ve been asleep for three days. The doctor said you did amazing work. You helped Mizuki from bleeding out internally.” He looked at Mizuki.

“Thank you, Ichirou. You really saved me. The doctor that should have been there for the surgery wasn’t, so they got another surgeon to do the work, but he wasn’t sure if he stitched up everything right. You saved my life, Ichirou.” Mizuki was smiling at him, Ichirou just gave him a blank face. He didn’t care, but somehow he knew he had to do something at the time. “Would you like to feed Yuriel, Ichirou?”

Nodding his head, Ichirou might as well get the chance to feed the new baby, especially if he was asked to do it. Mizuki got up out of the chair, and Ichirou sat on the chair as Mizuki handed Ichirou the infant. Once Mizuki was fine with Ichirou holding the baby and the bottle, he stood up.

“I’m going to go back to sleep, are you two okay with Yuriel?” He asked Kazayuki, and Kazayuki grabbed his hand and pulled Mizuki down for a kiss. Mizuki left them there with Ichirou feeding the baby.

Soon, Yuriel was struggling and Ichirou looked at Kazayuki. “Yuriel needs a to burp. Want me to do it?” Ichirou shook his head. “Okay, carefully put Yuriel against your chest with Yuriel’s head over your shoulder. Okay good, now pat Yuriel on the back.” He told Ichirou what to do as Ichirou followed instructions. He patted Yuriel on the back, till the baby let out a burp. “Okay, now lay him back down and continue feeding him.” Kazayuki held the bottle out for Ichirou when he was ready to continue to feed Yuriel.

Yuriel had looked at Ichirou, but Ichirou wasn’t sure if he was looking at him. He gave Yuriel a smirk, and the little one continued to feed. Ichirou had to go through burping Yuriel one last time before Kazayuki picked up Yuriel from Ichirou’s lap and laid the infant down in the crib and gestured to Ichirou to leave. They both left the Yuriel’s room and Kazayuki walked down to the kitchen, he yawned. That’s when Ichirou realized it was late at night, and he was awake, energized. Kazayuki had grabbed a blood package out of the fridge and handed it to Ichirou, before going to the couch and sitting down. Ichirou moved to the couch, sucking on the blood package.

Kazayuki turned on the TV and kept the volume low. He flipped through channels until he found something kid-appropriate. Ichirou watched him sitting there, and his eyes looking heavy. “You don’t have to stay up with me. I can bore myself with TV or go back to my bedroom and play video games quietly.” He told his father.

“You’ve been asleep for three days, and Eliza will be coming home soon, so can’t I spend some time with you? Just you and me.” Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou, but it didn’t reach his tired eyes. Ichirou shook his head.

“You are tired. You need to sleep.” Ichirou leaned into the couch and continued to suck on the blood package. Kazayuki chuckled softly and ruffled Ichirou’s naturally spiky black hair.

“I may be tired, but I have time off from work till Mizuki is better and not as tired. Yuriel has been keeping us up and even though I tell him to let’s take turns, he doesn’t want me to feed Yuriel without him there and he doesn’t want to feed Yuriel on his own either.” Kazayuki told Ichirou, to which Ichirou now understood why his father was tired looking. Though Mizuki had let Ichirou feed Yuriel and went to bed, his father was there with him as well. Did Mizuki want two people with Yuriel at all times?

Ichirou finished his blood package and walked to throw it away. He came back to the couch and sat beside his father, but this time he curled up against him. “If you pass out, I’ll deal with the baby.” He told his father, looking back at Kazayuki, who only smirked at him and kissed the top of his head. Ichirou turned his head back towards the TV and watched it.

It was only a few hours later that Ichirou had opened his eyes to hear a baby cry. He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he did. Stretching his small body he moved to stand up. “I’ll get the bottle, you change the diaper, Kazayuki.” Mizuki had shuffled out of the master bedroom. Ichirou looked back at his father and seen he was asleep. Did Mizuki mistake him for his father? It wouldn’t surprise him, he was his father’s look-alike, but he was shorter and younger-looking. He decided to do what his father’s job was.

Walking down the hallway to Yuriel’s bedroom, he opened the door and turned on the light. He heard Yuriel’s cries coming from the crib and walked over to the crib. He looked down at the baby, who was crying and placed his hand softly against Yuriel’s cheek. Eyes opened up and the crying stopped, Ichirou smirked at the baby.

Now, Ichirou never saw a real baby until he saw Yuriel and never changed a diaper before, but knew of them. This was going to be a new challenge for him. He unwrapped the baby who was wrapped in a blanket and seen it was only wearing an onesie. Onesie had three buttons on the bottom, so Ichirou didn’t need to figure out how to strip a baby down. Then there was the diaper, after he opened the onesie, the diaper was there and full, at least Ichirou could smell urine.

Looking around the room for another diaper, he saw what was a changing table and diapers stacked up underneath with other baby things that were needed for a change. He got the hint. He looked back at Yuriel and ever so carefully, he picked up the baby, up against his chest and shoulder, and walked over to the changing table. He grabbed a diaper from under the table and unfolded it.

“Now, this is my first time changing a diaper, so bare with me, Yuriel,” Ichirou spoke to the infant and pulled the tabs of the diaper open. He moved the front of the diaper away and seen there was indeed nothing brown in the diaper. If it had been a poopy diaper, he was sure that he would have had to wait for Mizuki to come with the bottle. Pulling the diaper away from Yuriel, Ichirou placed it aside and moved the fresh, clean diaper under Yuriel. Now he could see the difference between him and Yuriel, it was clear that he had both gender genitals. “Don’t worry, we are almost done.” He tried closing it up, but there didn’t seem to be any way for it to close up. Then he realized the taps were sticking down and pulled them away from the diaper and successfully changed a diaper. “Now, we have to wait for the bottle.” Ichirou snapped the buttons up on the onesie and picked up the infant every so carefully against his shoulder.

Mizuki had walked in right then and there. “Oh, Ichirou, you did such a good job. I thought your father was up. Sorry.” He came into the room with the bottle and took Yuriel from him. Ichirou let him and watched Mizuki sit in the chair in the room and as he stood near the door. “Oh, can you throw the diaper in the trash can there?” Mizuki pointed to the side of the changing table where a trash can was placed. “And you can come and sit by me.”

Getting the hint that Mizuki didn’t want to be alone, Ichirou put the diaper in the trash can and came over to Mizuki’s side, standing there and looking at Yuriel suck on the bottle. He had questions, but he didn’t want to ask them to Mizuki, he still wasn’t comfortable talking at Mizuki. “When do you get to drink blood, Yuriel?” Instead, he was going to ask Yuriel.

Mizuki had turned his head towards Ichirou and gave a soft smile as he saw Ichirou looking only at Yuriel. “Yuriel is too little to drink blood. Yuriel would have gotten enough supply of it from me, but when the baby’s ready, fangs will grow out. Yuriel doesn’t have any teeth.” Ichirou nodded his head once, understanding that now. Without fangs, Vampires couldn’t drink blood anyways.

“What you, Yuriel? A boy or a girl?” Ichirou asked the question that seemed a little rude to Mizuki, but he knew Ichirou was just curious.

“Your father says we should just call Yuriel ‘him’ until Yuriel gets older and decides. Though, in this city, men dress like women and still call themselves men, so it wouldn’t be hard for Yuriel to fit in.” Mizuki felt Yuriel shift in his arm, so he passed the bottle to Ichirou and sat Yuriel up to burp. After the burp, Ichirou gave back the bottle and Yuriel continued to drink.

“Eliza is going to like having a little brother like you, Yuriel. You can play dress up and even play dolls with her. I’ll teach you how to play my video games when you're older.” Ichirou smirked. He had chosen to call Yuriel his brother. It’s seemed like the right thing to do and Mizuki didn’t even bat an eye about it. He smiled sweetly at Ichirou and Yuriel.

Once Yuriel had finished the bottle and gave a final burp, Ichirou had left the bedroom with Mizuki. “Thank you, Ichirou. You are going to be such a good brother for Yuriel.” He patted Ichirou on the back and went back to the kitchen. “I’m going to make up some breakfast, anything you would like?” At the question, Ichirou responded with a shake of his head. So, Mizuki just went about making bacon and eggs, with coffee for both him and Kazayuk


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underage Sex (Non-consensual)

Ichirou turns six years old…

A month after Yuriel was born, Ichirou turns six. His birthday is a simple gathering of his family and Junji and Kiyo. They had just finishing birthday cake, Kiyo was holding Yuriel, taking his turn with the baby, as Junji had already held the infant. Kazayuki had helped Ichirou bring out his game console from his bedroom and set it up in the living room. Ichirou had a new game and he was going to play it with Eliza as the adults sat at the table talking.

Ichirou was engaged in the video game, helping Eliza with her character as it was another fighting game, but it was two players. Kiyo had given Ichirou his old game console and they were all one-player games. This time they thought ahead and figured Ichirou would like a two-player game so he could play it with his siblings.

“Are you ready for the shows coming up?” Junji asked.

“What? Oh, I forgot about them.” Kazayuki said, sounding down.

“Wow, man. The guy that bites our heads off for messing up dates and times forgot about the shows that are booked.” Kiyo was heard laughing. This conversation seemed to catch Ichirou’s attention, so he listened more closely, keeping his eyes on the game in front of him.

“I guess that means I’ll be leaving in a few weeks, Mizuki. Will you be okay with the kids by yourself?” Kazayuki's voice was laced with concern for the man.

“Kazayuki, I’m sure I can handle all the kids and if it gets too much I can call Yomi over. He’s offered to help me out whenever I need it.” Mizuki reassured Kazayuki.

“Are you sure? I could take Ichirou with me, and you only need to worry about Yuriel and Eliza.” Kazayuki said.

A sigh left Mizuki’s mouth. “I’m positive and Yomi said he would take both, Eliza and Ichirou if I need the break. He has a son who is older than Ichirou, but he’s sure the two would have no problems hanging out. Ichirou is quiet and does his own thing anyway.”

At those words, Ichirou stood up and dropped his controller on the floor, making the four adults look towards him. “No, I’m going.” They all looked at Ichirou as he voiced himself. “I want to spend time with my father and the only time I really do is on the road with him.” His dark red eyes glanced over everyone, even Eliza, who was laying on the floor at his feet.

Kazayuki had turned around, so Ichirou couldn’t see his face. He must have been giving Mizuki a face because Mizuki nodded his head. Kazayuki turned back towards Ichirou. “Okay, you can come. Though, this is the last time you can come with me. You are getting to be a big boy now.”

Ichirou ran up to his father and hugged him with a smirk on his face. Junji saw this and started laughing lightly. “Damn, he’s looking more and more like you, Kazayuki.”

Ichirou pulled away from his hug with his father and glanced at Junji. “I am his son. If I didn’t look like him, who else would I look like?” Ichirou smirked cheekily at Junji, which Junji reached over and ruffled his soft spikey black hair.

“Okay, go back and play your game with Eliza. We have to plan this. And Mizuki, we will be back before Eliza’s birthday, don’t worry about that.” Kazayuki told the other, as Ichirou went back over to the TV and grabbed his controller again, and played his game with Eliza.

Ichirou played for longer than Eliza, as she passed out on the floor and Yuriel had been placed in his crib. Junji and Kiyo had left a while ago, wishing Ichirou one last happy birthday, as Kazayuki and Mizuki had moved to curl up and cuddle on the couch. Ichirou had finally let out a yawn and turned off his gaming system. He turned around to see Mizuki and Kazayuki passed out on the couch. So, he grabbed the throw blanket and placed it over them both.

Trying to shake Eliza awake, she was sound asleep, not stirring awake. So, Ichirou did the brotherly thing he could think of and picked Eliza up, which Eliza managed to wrap her arms around Ichirou’s neck as he carried her to her bedroom. He tried laying her down, but she had a pretty tight grip around his neck. “No, mama stay.” Ichirou huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes at Eliza’s words.

Giving up, Ichirou laid in bed beside her, their foreheads touching as their heads rested on her pillow. Eliza had her arms wrapped around Ichirou’s neck, and Ichirou had his arms around Eliza’s body. He still managed to cover Eliza up with a blanket when she shivered against him. And that’s how they slept.

* * *

The two weeks went by uneventful, Mizuki even told Kazayuki that after Eliza’s birthday he was heading back to the studio with his band. He figured a few months of hiatus was plenty and he had already found a daycare to send Yuriel to. Kazayuki was getting the last things packed up, as Ichirou was standing by the door, ready to go.

“Buh bye, Ichirou. Miss you.” Eliza said as she stood in front of him. Ichirou smirked and patted her head.

“I’ll be back, Eliza,” Ichirou told her, then she wrapped her arms around Ichirou's body and hugged him. He chuckled softly and patted her head again.

Kazayuki finally came out of the bedroom, with Mizuki holding Yuriel following him out. “Alright, are we good to go then?” He looked down at Ichirou, who nodded his head. “Perfect,” Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou and turned around and kissed Mizuki, before giving a small peck to Yuriel’s head and he even gave Eliza a small peck on her cheek as he bent down for her to hug him. “We will be back before you know it.” He opened the door and Ichirou slipped out.

Ichirou couldn’t wait to get on the road. Hanging out on the bus was always something that just felt natural for him, it was like home for him. Though he expressed no interest in music like his father, he just enjoyed going on tour with his father.

With going on tour, there was no bedtime for Ichirou, but there were rules he had to follow. He wasn’t allowed to run around backstage, he had to sit by the makeup table and just listen to the music. He was fine with that because, during breaks, when the band came backstage, Ichirou made sure the band had fresh cold water to drink.

Though, as the first half of the show came to an end, giving water to the band, his father made it a rule that Ichirou had to spend the second half of the show on the bus. Most times his father was the one to walk him out to the bus, though few times his father asked a backstage crew member to do, which Ichirou hated. Though he was allowed to go on Junji’s laptop and play games.

They had made sure to keep Ichirou occupied, even though he was easy to deal with. He listened to the band members and followed the rules. He was just glad to spend time with his father.

Sitting in the bus, Ichirou waited patiently for the show to wrap up, he knew it was going to end soon, but that didn’t mean his father was going to be back anytime soon. He finished up playing his game on Junji’s laptop when he heard the door to the tour bus open. The show was still going on for at least another two songs so why was the door to the bus opening?

Getting up he walked over to where the steps lead to the door and he was shocked to see a man standing there, with a gun in his hand. Ichirou’s eyes widen. The man noticed Ichirou standing there and what Ichirou could describe was an evil-looking grin on his face. “Oh boy, you still around?” The man spoke and started taking the steps closer to Ichirou. Each step he took, Ichirou took a step back. The evil grin, it was so familiar to Ichirou, but he was too scared to pinpoint where he had seen that toothy evil grin before. “Come here, boy.”

The man reached to grab Ichirou, but Ichirou took off running for the backroom of the bus, where the man had caught up to Ichirou and pointed the gun against the back of his head. Ichirou had tried to open a window to escape the bus, but he wasn’t quick enough.

“Boy, your mother was such a good lay. It’s too bad she died from a drug overdose because she couldn’t handle that she had to give you up. I heard your father was responsible for knocking her up. I was going to put a bullet to your father’s head, though I think I’ll use the boy he’s caring for.” Ichirou didn’t understand it. Though, as the man spoke he was starting to put the pieces together. This man, he remembered him now, he used to visit his mom and hurt her, made her cried, and leave her broken and naked. He was only a baby at the time, he was in a baby carrier, but he remembered that evil grin he had.

Remembering flashbacks had left Ichirou vulnerable to the man over him. He didn’t realize the gun was now laying on the bed beside his head, as his pants were pulled down. He looked down the barrel of the gun, thinking it was going to go off and kill him. Pain shot through his small body, he tried to crawl himself out from whatever pressure he was feeling. It was ripping through his body, it was painful and unbearable. He wanted it to stop. Ichirou bit his lower lips hard, to keep himself from crying out, he didn’t want to scream. As his small body was jerked forward then back, there were hands on his hips that held onto him tightly that moved him away from the pressure, before it was slammed back into him. He could smell his blood in the air, tears fell from his eyes, he thought he was going to die, slowly, instead of quickly with the gun.

Ichirou felt something, something filling him. It was warm, almost hot when it came into contact with the stretching cuts in him. He let the tears fill his eyes as he felt the man lean down on him, almost crushing. “You learned from your mother how to keep your mouth shut.” He licked Ichirou’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I can keep going.” Then Ichirou felt his body being jerked back and forth again, the pain became lost to Ichirou as if he had gotten used to it. He was letting this man hurt him, he wasn’t strong enough, or big enough to stop this attack. He didn’t understand why he became this man’s victim.

Then he felt the man fall on him again, all of his weight fell on Ichirou, crushing him into the bed. Then the weight was gone and the last of the painful movement went with the weight. Ichirou felt he could breathe again, but he couldn’t move. He heard some kind of growling and struggling before he was rolled over and picked up. The pain in his backside brought more tears to his eyes, as he looked to the front of the bus and seen his father, in a fit of rage, punching and throwing the man out of the bus, taking the violent act outside.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Ichirou opened them to realize he was being cradled by someone. Looking, it was Yutaka, the Vampire guitarist in the band. He was cradling Ichirou, trying to keep Ichirou calm. Ichirou curled up closer to him, till his sense started to pick up things again, he felt more people outside, then there were people on the tour bus.

The next thing that happened to Ichirou was being looked over by someone, with a medical symbol on their shirt and a police officer behind them. As far as Ichirou could tell they were telling Yutaka to let them look over the boy, but Yutaka was being overprotective of Ichirou. He felt the growl in Yutaka's chest, and Ichirou snapped his eyes open and looked at Yutaka. “What’s wrong?” Ichirou asked as he reached his hand up to Yutaka’s face and placed his hand on his cheek. He could feel the Vampire was just protecting him, till his father came back.

“Ichirou, they need to look you over. Will you allow them to take pictures and make sure your wounds aren’t too serious?” Yutaka asked, and Ichirou nodded his head.

“You stay with me until my father comes back?” Ichirou asked, and noticed Yutaka’s face dropped, but he nodded his head. Then Ichirou was removed from his lap and the medical examiner began checking Ichirou over, taking swabs in areas that Ichirou knew were painful, and taking pictures. Ichirou had to strip off his clothes, where were put into a bag. Lucky Yutaka was there and handed Ichirou an oversize adult sweater for Ichirou to wear. It seemed after the examination, the medical examiner whispered something into the police officer's ear, making the officer nod his head, then the medical examiner left.

“Well, it seems there is little we can do from here. As the victim is a Vampire, we can’t do any more about the case. All we can do-” The officer was speaking to Yutaka, but Yutaka stopped him from talking anymore.

“A child was just raped and you can’t do anything about it, because said child is a Vampire? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Yutaka stood up, blocking Ichirou’s vision of the police officer.

“Sir, calm down. All we can do is keep the suspect in jail for a maximum of five days. As things stand, anything that has a Vampire as a victim or suspect is immediately dismissed. Just as you are angry about this as the victim is a small child and a Vampire, think of the other families with small children that are human, but their cases are dismissed because the suspect is a Vampire. It goes both ways here.”

Yutaka shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. I’ve watched the news, I read the paper. More Vampires that come out are shot down on the streets and killed by men like you. There is no fair trial for us.” He started pushing the police officer back, but not physically. The officer was walking backward. “How many Vampires have you killed so far? Would you have planned something to kill that poor boy back there? Just as you are afraid of us, we are afraid of you. What rogue Vampires have done to the poor innocent lives of women all around the world isn’t our fault, but you classify us in the same category as them, don’t you?”

The police officer didn’t even look in Yutaka’s eyes. He put his notepad away, put his cap back on his head. “I’m sorry about the situation. Goodnight, sir.” And the police officer turned and walked out of the bus. Ichirou had moved from the backroom to stand by the bathroom door. He felt blood and whatever else sliding down his legs. He looked at Yutaka, hoping for some answers, such as where his father was.

Yutaka turned to see Ichirou standing there, and a pool of bodily fluids near Ichirou’s feet. “We need to get you cleaned up. We need to get you to a doctor to heal you. We need to get blood in your system. Shit, we need things that aren’t available right now.” Ichirou looked down at the ground, he was in pain, but it wasn’t as bad as it was when it was happening.

“There’s extra blood packages in a cooler behind one of the bottom drawers. Father keeps them there for me, as you guys don’t drink blood as much as I do. And I can heal myself.” Ichirou sniffed, his eyes no longer watery as he stood there in an oversize sweater. Yutaka pushed passed Ichirou, gently, and went to the back room to search for what Ichirou was talking about. He found a cooler and brought it to him.

“Ichirou, just because you drink blood and it’ll help heal you, it’s not going to heal the more permanent damage that man had caused you.” Yutaka opened the cooler on the table and pulled out a blood package and handed it to Ichirou.

Ichirou took the blood package from Yutaka. “I can fix it myself.” He didn’t say anymore as he bit into the blood package and sucked it back faster than he ever had, realizing how bloodthirsty he was. He opened up the bathroom door and closed himself in the bathroom. There were only a toilet and a sink inside, but he would have to make do.

Taking off the sweater, Ichirou sat on the toilet seat and pushed his legs against the wall in front of him, so his lower body was stretched out as much as possible. It would have been easier to do this on a bed, but he didn’t want to bleed on the bed. He placed his hand over his groin area and closed his eyes. He could see inside of his body, but couldn’t tell what was what, he didn’t know his own anatomy. What Ichirou could tell was what was damaged. There was a large tear inside of himself and it was causing internal bleeding. He worked on that. The blood he had just sucked was helping him out.

Ichirou started panting. It was more of a task when he had to do it on himself. Keeping his eyes closed and searching, he found another bad wound. He felt dizzy, but he knew he had to continue repairing all the wounds that were seriously damaged. He noticed his body was already healing, there didn’t seem to be any more tears that would cause permanent damage. He was satisfied with what he had done to heal himself, his small six-year-old body.

* * *

Ichirou had woken up, he didn’t know when he passed out, but now he was sleeping on one of the bunks in the back of the tour bus and the bus was moving. He tried to sit up, but pain overtook him, his whole body felt sore and stiff. Was it his adrenaline that helped him moving before? He didn’t know, but now he was back to feeling so much pain, tears streaked down his face.

Sobbing, he didn’t notice someone came into the back area where the bunks were and kneeled in front of him. “Shh, Ichirou. It’s okay. I’m here now.” Ichirou heard his father’s voice and felt his hand petting his head, but the pain was too much. So bad that Ichirou vomited off the edge of the bed, having struggled his way close enough to the edge. “Ah, shit.” He heard his father’s voice speak again.

“Are you alright man?” Another voice. It sounded like Kiyo's voice this time. “Shit, I’ll get some towels to help you clean that up.” He must have seen the mess Ichirou puked up, but Ichirou’s eyes were screwed tightly. His body, what was wrong with his body? Besides being raped, something didn’t feel right. He was silent in his screaming out in pain, no one could hear him screaming in his head, only the expression on his face.

“Ichirou, you needed to calm down. I know it hurts.” Was his father crying? It sounded like his father was crying. “Shh, Ichirou. Calm down. Breathe.” Again, he felt the hand on his head. He struggled some more, till he became still.

The next time Ichirou woke up, there was light. Sunlight. He opened his eyes slowly and glanced around. He was on his side and he could smell vomit with a mix of cleaning products. He wanted to move, but he feared moving. Then an arm came around him, he froze. Breathing heavily, he wanted to see who was behind him, but his body wouldn’t react or move in any way. He glanced down and seen the tattoos, the familiar tattoos on his father’s arm.

Ichirou could relax. His father was behind him. His father must have crawled in behind him last night. He felt safe once again, but his body ached and throbbed. His backside was giving him pain, but it was dull this time around. He tried to move to sit up but his legs wouldn’t move nor his arms. He was completely frozen. Though he was sure he wasn’t cold, his body just didn’t want to move.

Being awake and not able to move scared him and the fear radiating off of him now stirred his father awake. “Ichirou, what’s wrong?” His father rubbed his arm, but he still could see him.

“I-I can’t move.” Ichirou studdered out, as his father moved from behind him, crawling over top of him, not touching him and bent down in front of his face. He could see the pain-filled expression on Kazayuki’s face, his red eyes feeling sorry for Ichirou.

“You… Yutaka explained to me what happened. You were trying to heal yourself.” Kazayuki licked his lips and swallowed hard. “You overexerted yourself. You are young, Ichirou. Yes, you can heal wounds, but you can’t be doing things that require too much of you. You did it at the hospital and you slept for days. You did it again and on yourself no less and making yourself sick.”

That’s why he could smell vomit, and why he couldn’t move a muscle in his body that he was trying to move. “I-I’m sorry.” Kazayuki shook his head and leaned forward and placed a kiss on Ichirou’s head.

“You need to take it easy. I’ll get you a blood package, but drink it slowly.” Kazayuki told Ichirou as he got up and disappeared into the backroom, Ichirou could only move his eyes and he couldn’t see much, just the bed with untucked sheets. His father came back in and brought the blood package up to his mouth, it was already opened. “Let me help you. You need to turn your head this way so you can drink.” His father helped him move his head to face towards the bunk above him and helped him drink the blood package through a small hole in the plastic.

Once the blood was gone from the package, his father pulled it away and let Ichirou’s head lay on the bed. “You try to rest some more. Our manager will be calling us today for an update on the scheduled shows. We might be going home earlier.” Kazayuki smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. All Ichirou could mustard up was a slight nod, before he closed his eyes. He was tired, and couldn’t understand why it was so easy to fall asleep.

* * *

The rest of the tour was uneventful, out of the four shows left to do, only one of them canceled. Meaning three shows were still going on as scheduled. Kazayuki was glad, but he also didn’t want to leave Ichirou’s side. He felt all of this was his fault. Even after learning that the gun the man had brought on the bus was meant for him. Ichirou had told him as much as he could about the man and why he was familiar to him. Though Ichirou was just a baby at the time, he didn’t know what the man was to his mother.

They made it back to the island without another incident before they were all taking into the police station for questioning. The law enforcement wanted details, wanted to know exactly what happened on the mainland. They needed this information to pass along and hopefully find a better solution for future incidents.

Ichirou was able to walk now, his body wasn’t stiff and the police took him to the hospital to get checked out. Sure, they wouldn’t have evidence, but they needed to make sure there was no permanent damage. The doctor came in, checked him out, noticed a bit of tearing that couldn’t be healed easily by drinking blood. He told Ichirou that he was lucky as he healed him. Ichirou told him he had repaired most of the damage himself, to which the doctor understood and talked to Ichirou about his ability, as it was similar to his own.

Learning that Ichirou’s ability was going to take a toll on him because he was so young. Ichirou learned that his ability used the blood of the other to repair damage to tissue and such. He should be wise in using it his ability, as he could not restore blood at the same time. He was told as an example, if someone was bleeding out and Ichirou used his ability, he may kill the one he was trying to save. The blood the person had was being manipulated by Ichirou to fix tissue damage and repairing organs, and if the person didn’t have enough blood in their system, they would die from exsanguination. He had simply warned Ichirou to not exhaust his power so much anymore and only use it if the person was not bleeding out. Taking that warning with him, Ichirou understood now why he had caused himself to be bedridden for a few days on tour, he barely had any blood in his system to move his body, and drinking blood packages only restored so much. If he had stayed conscious enough to repair his insides, he would be dead by now.

When they finally got home, Eliza didn’t know what had happened, so she was excited to see Ichirou and even dragged him along to her bedroom to play. Mizuki had tried to stop her, but Ichirou gave him a look to back off as he was dragged away. He needed this, he needed Eliza’s cheerful attitude, he didn’t want to think about what had happened to him anymore. He wanted to live in the fantasy world Eliza had created for herself.

They played with plastic cooking toys, dressed up her teddy bears in dresses, and even had a small tea party. Ichirou enjoyed himself in the fantasy world Eliza had for herself, forgetting about the outside world. Kazayuki had made up one of Ichirou’s favorite dishes that evening for supper and everyone sat around the table, even Yuriel in his highchair. There was no talk of the tour or the events that happened on the road. It was nice, at least Ichirou thought it was.

After supper, he dragged Eliza into his room and they played on his video game system. “No, you have to press that button and move.” Ichirou was trying to explain the game to Eliza.

“I tried, I can't move him like you can.” Eliza tried a couple of times before Ichirou took the controller from her and did it. “You make it look so easy, Ichirou.”

“That’s because I’m a boy and we know how to play video games.” Ichirou proudly said, which made Eliza pout. “You’ll figure it out. Girls just take longer to understand games.”

“Mama, Ichirou is being mean to me!” Eliza called out, which Mizuki wasn’t that far away as he was in Yuriel’s room. He appeared in Ichirou’s room. “He says boys are better at games and it takes girls longer to understand.”

Mizuki gave Ichirou a stern look, which Ichirou looked away from. “Ichirou, that’s not true. I know girls that are better at playing games than boys. Now, say you’re sorry to Eliza.”

Ichirou looked towards Eliza, who barely had a tear in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Eliza moved to Ichirou and gave him a hard hug. Ichirou tried to suppress the growl in his throat.

“Now, it’s bedtime. You two should get ready.” Mizuki told them and Eliza got up and followed Mizuki to her room. Ichirou sat there on the floor, looking at the TV seeing his game on pause. He wished he could pause his life. Maybe even delete it and restart it all over again. He turned off the video game system and crawled into bed, not caring that he was still wearing his clothes. Mizuki came to check up on him and shut off his light before closing the door and leaving Ichirou in complete darkness.

That night, Ichirou would dream, he would dream of the nightmare that happened to him. His body would feel colder than usual, though he wouldn’t make a sound. Then he would feel the warmth and open his eyes, to see that Eliza had crawled into bed with him. The young innocent girl would be his comfort and the nightmare would cease to continue.


	9. Chapter 9

Ichirou is seven, Eliza is five, and Yuriel is two…

“No, he is old enough! You need to stop babying him and let him grow up!”

The anger was coming from the living room, Ichirou knew he had to keep out of it. He even knew he had to keep the other small children out of the fight between Mizuki and Kazayuki. They had been fighting more and more recently, and tonight fight was about him, Ichirou. Ichirou had taken Eliza and Yuriel to Yuriel’s room to play. It was like their haven. The only safe place he could take the smaller children, though the yelling didn’t help.

“I’m not babying him! He’s growing up just like I grew up! He can read and write, he doesn’t need any of that nonsense!” Kazayuki voice was heard, growling at Mizuki.

“You moved here for a better future for Ichirou! At least take the opportunity and get him an education! He’s seven years old and doesn’t even have a single friend his age! He’s falling behind socially and if he wants a career, no one is going to give him a chance with no education!”

“Mizuki, I’ve talked to you about this before! You said you were fine with it! But now it’s a big deal!”

Ichirou sighed with Yuriel in his lap, playing with toys in from of him. They decided to call Yuriel their brother, both Eliza, and Ichirou. They knew of his difference and they accepted that Yuriel was a hermaphrodite. It was just easier for them and everyone around them to call him brother, till he was old enough. Eliza was in front of Ichirou playing with Yuriel and the toys Yuriel was playing with.

“Ichirou, don’t feel bad. School will be fun. You make friends.” Eliza said, knowing what the fight was about. “I think it’d be fun to have you there to play with during recess.”

“Recess?” Ichirou looked at Eliza with a confused face. “I don’t feel like making friends. I have you to play with when I’m bored of playing by myself.”

Eliza shook her head. “I’m in kindergarten, Ichirou. I’m littler than you. You need bigger friends. Have fun with bigger kids like you.” She smiled sweetly at him.

Ichirou sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do. You told me teachers tell you what you should do during the day.” He wasn’t wrong with that. Eliza did come home, telling him that the teacher made them do certain arts and crafts, or made them learn their numbers. Though, she always said it with a smile on her face, as if she enjoyed it.

“It’s learning, Ichirou. You can become smarter if you listen to them. You listen to daddy, so it’s just like that.” Eliza picked up a teddy bear that Yuriel was reaching for and handed it to him. “You listen and learn, that’s school. And you get to play with other kids just like you.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. No other kid was just like him. He had experienced life in a different way than most. He learned how to cursive write, still refusing to print. He learned how to read, with some help. He knew how to count, as well. He learned a lot at home and experienced things that other kids shouldn’t experience.

“Please, Ichirou. Come to school and learn. Make them stop fighting.” Eliza pouted, almost like she was trying to force herself to cry for him. “You already missed months of school, if you don’t go now, you’ll be in class with me, a big kid with little kids.”

Ichirou couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand Eliza pout. He had to give in, he didn’t want to, but for Eliza, he would try. He sat Yuriel down on the floor and got up. “Fine, I’ll go to school. But if I hate it, I’m not doing it again.” He walked out of the bedroom and could feel the tension in the air between Mizuki and Kazayuki. Two vampires fighting with words was only half the tension, it’s when it became physical that Ichirou hated the tension. He came into view of the two adults standing there, they paused their words and looked at Ichirou. “I’ll go to school.” He spoke quietly as he looked at the ground.

“Ichirou, I don’t want to force you-” Kazayuki started to speak, but Mizuki interrupted him.

“There you go, babying him again.” Mizuki was giving Kazayuki a look of anger. “He wants to go, so let him. It’s better that he accepts going to school now.”

“Mizuki, you don’t understand. I seen the rules, Ichirou isn’t ready for that.” Kazayuki spoke at Mizuki.

“I’m going to school! Now stop fighting!” Ichirou yelled out, making both adults stop their argument. Mizuki turned around and headed into the master bedroom with a slam of the door. Kazayuki sighed and sat on the couch with his hands on his face with his elbows resting on his knees. “Father, I need to go to school. I don’t want to, but I’m tired of the fighting. Just make me go to school, I won’t hate you.” Ichirou told his father as he walked over to Kazayuki and stood in front of him.

“If that’s what you want me to do.” Kazayuki removed his hands from his face and looked up at Ichirou. “Starting tomorrow, you will start the first grade. You’ve been registered for a while now and Mizuki got the call tonight for your attendance, if you don’t go this year, next year you will be in the same class with Eliza. They can only hold you back twice, because of your age.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He understood, he knew he was two years older than Eliza and should be in an older class, but because he hadn’t gone to school at all, he would be starting in the class that was only a year older than Eliza’s. “I don’t want you fighting with Mizuki, that’s all you guys do now and it’s hurting me, Eliza, and Yuriel. Please, stop fighting.”

Kazayuki nodded his head. “Alright, I’ll calmly talk to Mizuki, but you kids need to get to bed now. It’s past your bedtime and school starts early.” He got up and both him and Ichirou went to help put Yuriel and Eliza to bed. Kazayuki watched Ichirou get to bed himself, before shutting off the light. “Love you, Ichirou.”

“I love you too, father,” Ichirou said, before rolling on his side and covering up with the blanket. He didn’t feel like sleeping, not with the idea of going to school. His imagination gave him ideas of angry teacher monsters trying to tell him what to do, and he feared that he would be punished for not going to school sooner. Was that why his father kept him away?

* * *

Earlier in the morning, Ichirou was woken up by Mizuki. “Come on, Ichirou. It’s time to get up.” He didn’t mind being woken up by Mizuki. His attitude had changed towards Mizuki over the course of the year. Mizuki was thankful for, as it was no longer putting a strain on his relationship with Kazayuki, but there were other problems between them that Ichirou wasn’t the cause of.

Ichirou got up and sat on the edge of the bed, he had blacked out curtains so the sun wouldn’t disturb him, but starting school, he may need to open the curtains so Mizuki wasn’t the one waking him up. He watched as Mizuki pulled clothes out for Ichirou. A skull t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans, socks and, underwear. “Here, you should dress nicely for school, but seeing as you don’t have anything nice, you can wear these.” Mizuki placed them on the bed and got out of Ichirou’s bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Getting up with a stretch, Ichirou put on the clothes Mizuki had pulled out for him, he ran a hand through his naturally spikey black hair and sighed. He didn’t know what today was going to bring.

As he walked out of his bedroom, to the kitchen area, he seen Eliza was already dressed up in a flowery dress with a smile on her face, as she was eating her cereal. Mizuki had put out a piece of toast and a blood package for Ichirou. “Now, Ichirou. There is a strict rule about blood at school. As some of the children aren’t Vampires they made sure to keep blood out of the school lunches. I know your habits of eating actual food isn’t there, but I packed you a small lunch with some snacks. Eat what you can, okay?”

Ichirou looked at the lunch Mizuki had placed in front of him in a red lunch case. A sandwich with cheese, three gummy snacks, and four cookies. There was a water bottle among the snacks. He was already hating the idea of school as he sucked on his blood package. Mornings and afternoons he had his fill of blood, never touched any food. Supper time was the only time he didn’t have a blood package. He even managed to sneak a blood package in the evening after supper sometimes. His diet was mostly blood, unlike the other Vampires.

“Now, I will take you both down to meet the bus, like I do with Eliza every morning. But knowing you are a big boy and like to do things yourself, I will do this once and after today, you can take Eliza down every morning to get on the bus, does that sound okay, Ichirou?” Mizuki knew Ichirou’s attitude, Ichirou liked to do things for himself, so he must have had this planned out since the beginning of the school year when they registered both him and Eliza.

Ichirou nodded his head. “Yeah.” Was all he said after he finished his blood package and took a bite from his toast. It tasted weird to him, tasted unnatural. Eating after drinking a blood package, but Mizuki must have a plan to get Ichirou to eat more food than blood.

After they finished up breakfast, Mizuki grabbed Yuriel and handed Ichirou a backpack. It was a plain black backpack, one that he saw his father used when he stayed overnight at the studio without Ichirou. Now it was Ichirou’s school bag with his lunch inside, no other supplies were inside. So he put the backpack on over one of his shoulders and grabbed Eliza’s hand with his other hand as they left the condominium. He had to act like Mizuki wasn’t with them, if he was going to be doing this every day, so it was a natural brotherly instinct to hold Eliza’s hand so she wouldn’t wander off.

Taking the elevator down, they made it to the main level, and Mizuki holding Yuriel let Ichirou go through the building’s main doors, but he stayed on the inside watching them. The street had few people walking, probably going to work, but there were a few other kids there. Some much older than Ichirou and a few Eliza’s age probably. They stood there in their little group and waited for the bus to pull up.

The school bus was long and only one door to enter and exit from. There were already a few other kids on the bus as everyone climb on in. The older kids took to the back. “Ichirou, look an open seat.” Eliza was out in front of Ichirou, almost dragging him along to the empty seat on the bus, it was near the front of the bus. Eliza got on the seat, followed by Ichirou and he looked towards the window at the building. There he could see Mizuki waving Yuriel’s little hand at the bus. He nudges Eliza to look out the window and she smiled and waved back to Yuriel and Mizuki.

The chatter and screaming on the bus must have been normal, as the driver didn’t dare tell the children to stop as they continued to drive and pick up a few more kids. The bus ride Ichirou had imagined was one where the kids were strapped onto the seat with their mouths closed. If they spoke once, the bus driver would throw them out and make them run alongside the bus to the school. Ichirou was relieved this wasn’t the case. He might have let his imagination make up what school was going to be like, though the reality was different.

“Look, there’s the school,” Eliza exclaimed so happily, pointing out the window. “I’m happy you are going to be going to school now, Ichirou.” The bus had stopped and a lot of the kids started piling up in a single line trying to get off the bus. Ichirou waited and waited till there was an opening for him and Eliza to slip out.

Once off the bus, Ichirou ran a hand through his naturally spikey hair and looked at Eliza. “Where do we go from here?” He wasn’t sure, this was his first time here. Eliza grabbed his hand and started taking him towards the school playground.

“We go play till the school bell rings.” Eliza was so happy to have Ichirou here it seemed. Though, Ichirou stopped her from pulling him in that direction. He looked over his shoulder and seen his father standing there in the parking lot. His father was leaning against a motorcycle, one Ichirou had never seen before, nor did he think his father had one. “Oh, there’s daddy.” Eliza pointed as she looked in the direction of Kazayuki. “I guess he came for you. I’ll go play. Find me later.” She let go of Ichirou’s hand and took off running.

Ichirou walked over towards Kazayuki and stopped right in front of him. “I’m here because I have to take you inside.” He didn’t seem pleased. “Mizuki had called me and told me because it’s your first day and you are a new student, you don’t know where to go.”

Ichirou nodded his head and followed Kazayuki through the main entrance of the school. “I don’t like this. Why can’t we pretend I went to school and you just take me with you to work?” He wanted to get out of this, the kids were too rambunctious it seemed to him.

“I know, I wish I could, but Mizuki says this is better for you. Plus, if we have to go on tour together. You would have to stay behind at another’s place and if you aren’t in school, it’ll make me look like a bad parent.” Kazayuki told Ichirou as they walked through the main entrance. Ichirou never realized that him not being in school would make his father look like a bad parent. He was a great parent, at least Ichirou thought.

They made their way to what was called the office and his father talked to a man, who was called a secretary. There was another door in the office that led to someone called a principal. He didn’t pay much attention to what was going on around him till a young-looking woman came into the office.

“Hello, Mr. Matsumoto. We are so glad to have Ichirou joining us here.” The young woman with brown hair done up in a bun and dark eyes, smiling at Kazayuki and shook his hand, before looking down at Ichirou. “I’m going to take you to your classroom, Ichirou. I’ll be your teacher, Ms. Brown. Your dad here is going to leave, but don’t worry you are safe here.”

Ichirou looked up at his father, then back at the young teacher. “You’re not human, nor are you a Vampire. What are you?” Ichirou asked her, which made her look at him with surprise. Kazayuki coughed slightly.

“I’ll leave you guys. Ichirou, just… behave.” Kazayuki had decided he would have to get out there. He never taught Ichirou much about the different people in this world and Ichirou would have to be taught by them the rights and wrongs of society. He just left Ichirou there with the young teacher.

“Now, Ichirou. You may know about humans and Vampires, but I am what you call an Angel. There aren’t many of us here, but we are around. Though in school we treat everyone like an equal. So there is no race, we are all the same. We are people.” The young teacher, Ms, Brown explained to Ichirou. He didn’t really care. “Now, I will take you to the classroom and get you situated.” She placed a hand on Ichirou’s back with a gentle touch for him to follow. “You will like it here. School is a place to have fun and learn new things.”

He followed the teacher, not caring to listen anymore as they made their way through the school to the classroom. She opened the door for Ichirou and invited him inside. As he walked in, he noticed all the bright colors of the room with arts and crafts that looked similar to what Eliza brought home. “Now, Ichirou, when you come into the classroom you are going to hang your bookbag and coat right here on this hook. Your name has been written above your hook.”

Looking up, Ichirou took off his backpack and she watched him hang it up. “Good, now everyone has an assigned desk. When the bell rings for you to come into the school, come into this classroom, and you hang up your book bag and coat. Once you do that, you will find your desk and sit down. I have written everyone’s name on their name tags, can you find your desk?” The young teacher was still smiling at him. Ichirou was finding that smile to be annoying. He walked over to the desks and scanned them out till he found his name, printed out on a name tag. He walked over and stood by the desk.

“Excellent.” She smiled bigger than before and walked over to her desk and brought some school supplies up to his desk. “These are your pencils, these are what we write with.” She handed over some pencils. “Here is your writing book. It’s the blue book. Here is your spelling book, the pink one. And this is your math book, the orange one.” She placed the three books on the table. “You may take a seat and put your books in your desk cubby hole. When I call out a subject, you will grab the color book of that subject and place it on your desk. We have more subjects than just three, but we don’t have books for those subjects.”

Ichirou did as he was told, sat down in the desk, and placed his books and pencils inside the desk. He realized everything was printed on and not handwritten. He like cursive writing more now than ever, he felt printing was too childish for him.

The school bang rang and the teacher walked away towards her desk as the hallway filled with the noise of kids coming in from outside. Then some of those noisy kids came into the classroom. Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest and slouched down in the desk, not paying attention to the excitement of the kids nor the confusion him being there created.

Once everyone was in their seats at their desks, Ms. Brown stood in front of the class. “Class, today we have a new student joining us.”

“You mean the skipper?” One of the kids spoke out.

“No, he’s not a skipper, he just hasn’t come to school till now.” She smiled at Ichirou. “I would like for our new student to stand up and come to the front of the class and introduce himself.”

Ichirou understood what she said, and was debating if he should or not, till he stood up stuffed his hands into his pockets, and stood beside the teacher. He looked over all the kids sitting there, give him their attention. He hated it. He didn’t want eyes on him. “I’m Ichirou Matsumoto.”

“You can tell the class a bit about yourself, Ichirou. I’m sure they would like to know a bit about you.” The teacher placed a hand on his back, trying to encourage him to speak.

Ichirou sighed out in frustration, gritted his teeth together before speaking. “I’m Ichirou Matsumoto. I am seven years old. I have a sister that goes to this school and I like playing video games.” He looked up at the teacher. “Is that enough information?”

The teacher didn’t look impressed by his attitude or the tone in his voice, but she forced a smile. “That’s perfect, Ichirou. You may take your seat again.” And that’s how Ichirou’s first day had started at school.

After Ichirou had introduced himself to the class, they had started the day with math. Numbers were easy for Ichirou and they were given a worksheet to work on quietly by themselves. Ichirou could hear the small chatter in the room, most of it was directed towards him.

“He’s scary. Even dresses scary looking.”

“I don’t like him. He isn’t friendly.”

“I don’t think he has many friends.”

Ichirou could hear this all being whispered around the room, that he even took a glance at the teacher sitting at her desk. She wasn’t paying attention to any of it, or she couldn’t hear the whispers as others talked about the math problems they were given. It was a small classroom only him and eight other students, so why she couldn’t hear the whispers about him though the math talk was beyond him. He didn’t care one way or another.

Working on his worksheet, Ichirou was faced with basic adding and subtracting equations. This he had figured out a while ago, so he got right to work finishing the questions fast. Probably faster than any other student in the class as it looked like they weren’t even halfway done.

So, he laid his head down on the desk with his arms folded in front of him. Oh, he realized now how much he was missing his bed. He didn’t know the time, but what he did know was that he would get up after Eliza had gone off to school. Play some video games, go in the kitchen grab a blood package, before watching some TV. He had it simple at home by himself.

The teacher got up from her desk and started walking down the three rows of desks, Ichirou’s desk right in the middle, surrounded by all the other kid’s desks. “Alright class, that’s enough. If you haven’t finished, you will need to finish your work during lunchtime or at home this evening. It’s now time for reading. So, please go to the bookshelf and select a book.”

Ichirou didn’t move, as he saw the other kids get up from their desks and rush over to a bookshelf in the corner of the room. The teacher passed by his desk and seen the finished work on the worksheet before she placed a hand on Ichirou’s shoulder. “Ichirou, we don’t sleep in class. I see you have finished your work, but now you need to go and select a book from the shelf.”

Ichirou lifted his head up and glared at her, before getting up out of his desk. He didn’t care about the look she gave him when he glared at her. He was already bored with this school stuff. He walked slowly towards the bookshelf as kids pull a book or two off and took them back to their desks. He realized they were very simple children’s books. They were books that he had to read to Eliza and Yuriel, and now he had to read them to himself. He grabbed one, not looking at it, and took it back to his seat.

When he got back he looked at it and realized it was a girly pony book. Well, he would have to deal with it and read through it now. Reading time was just boring to Ichirou, as he had read the book and started looking around the classroom. He noticed everyone was quiet and reading to themselves. He noticed in this classroom, there were four Vampires, three humans, and an Angel. With him there, there were now five Vampires. There were three girls and a boy who dressed like a girl. The girls took up the first three desks in front of Ichirou, the to his left was the girly boy. To his right was the Angel boy. Then there were three desks behind him. Three rows of three desks and he was smack dab in the middle of them all. Was this how the classroom was set up before or did the teacher plan this out when she realized Ichirou was coming to school? He would never know.

The next time the bell rang, the teacher got up from her desk again as the kids shuffled around to put their books away. “Okay, recess time. Everyone put your books away and go outside.”

Ichirou was the last to get up and the kids rushed around him to get outside but were avoiding him. He put his book back on the shelf and the teacher stood almost behind him when he turned around. “Ichirou, I know you probably want to go outside and make some friends, but I need you to stay behind. There are some rules I have to go through with you about school life.”

Letting out a sigh, Ichirou followed the teacher to her desk and sat on a chair beside her desk as she started explaining everything. They were pretty basic rules, mostly about attitude and how to treat others. He was understanding, but not caring what she said. He had to stop the dirty looks he gave her, is what she was saying, and when he was asked to do something or say something, he had to do it respectfully.

Then the bell rang again and she told him to get to his seat as the other kids came in from outside. Everyone was sitting back at their desks and the teacher stood in front of the chalkboard. “Today class, we will be learning about the letter Q. Does anyone know a word that starts with the letter Q?” She looked around the classroom as one of the girls held up her hand.

Ichirou just sat there and closed his eyes. He couldn’t put his head down, but at least he could rest sitting up straight. He heard the teacher writing on the chalkboard, showing the kids how to make a proper Q in both upper cases and lower cases. She wrote words on the board that the students had called out and even wrote a few of her own.

“Okay class, pull out your blue writing book and put down these words in your book. Remember the first write out eight upper case letters, and 8 lower case letters before writing out the words.” The teacher walked over to Ichirou’s desk. “I’ll help you understand.” Shee kneeled beside his desk and on a page in his blue book, she did an upper case and lower case of the letter printed out on two lines each as she explained. “You will print out eight each and on the next lines, you will write out each word twice. Do you understand?”

Ichirou nodded his head. Though, he didn’t like this. It was printing. He never printed out the letters or words before and he even learned how to keep it all on one line. Now he was being told to print and make the letters big enough for two lines. The teacher stayed beside him as he held his pencil. He did each letter in cursive writing.

This action displeased the teacher but also left her in shock. “Now, Ichirou, we don’t learn to handwrite until the third grade. You have to print it. Erase and start again.” She picked up Ichirou’s eraser from his desk and erased the work he had done. “Try again.”

Ichirou shook his head, trying to keep his face clear of emotion, he wanted to scowl at her so bad. “Ms. Brown, I do not print. I find it uncharacteristic. Cursive writing helps me to express myself in word form.” He was trying to be polite, polite like she wanted him to be, and even used words that Kelly had said before. “I will not do something I do not wish to do. I have learned how to write this way since I was almost five.”

“Ichirou, it’s nice that you want to express yourself with your writing, but we must learn to print first. So please do your work the way I have said to do your work. You can handwrite at home, but here in this class, we print.” She sounded like she was getting annoyed and had gotten up and walked back to her desk to write out something in her book.

Looking back down at the book in front of him, Ichirou scrunched up his nose and when to work, handwriting out everything and even keeping it on a single line rather than two lines. Each word was written out twice on a line, and the page he used wasn’t filled up, he had only used half a page. He set his pencil down and the teacher had gotten up and walked around the classroom looking at everyone’s word and congratulating them on their skill until she got to Ichirou and frowned.

It wasn’t like his handwriting was unreadable or messy, it was written out clearly with a slant in the lettering. He had learned from a college student how to use cursive writing so he wasn’t going to give in to the teacher’s demands of printing instead of writing.

“Alright class, now that we have learned how to print out the letter Q, our spelling words this week all have the letter Q in them, that the theme for this week.” The teacher went up to the board and wiped it clean before spelling out the words they would be using this week for the spelling test.

Ichirou felt like he had won this round. She dropped the matter of him writing instead of printing and continued with her lesson plan for the day. Ichirou knew he was going to get his way, one way or another, he just had to pick and choose his battles wisely.

When the lunch bell rang, it was time Ichirou dread the most. All the kids put their books away, and got up to the back of the classroom, and grabbed out their lunch kits to start eating. Ichirou stayed where he was and put his head down. He wasn’t hungry, well not for food anyway, so he decided to take the time to sleep a bit.

“Ichirou, where is your lunch?” Ms. Brown touched his shoulder. “Did your family not help you pack a lunch?” She looked concerned at him.

“I have lunch, just not hungry for it. I don’t like to eat food.” Ichirou bluntly told her. “If I was hungry, I would go get it and eat, but I’m not and you can’t make me eat something I don’t want to eat.”

The teacher sighed and walked away, she walked back to her desk, pulled out her lunch. Not before making another note in her book. Ichirou was curious about what she was writing out in her book, as it must have to do with him. No, it definitely had something to do with him.

Lunch was eaten and the teacher said everyone could go outside now. So all the kids got up and rushed outside. This would be the first time Ichirou got to leave the classroom from first entering it this morning. He silently followed everyone out of the school and out to the school playground. He didn’t know what to do exactly now that he was out on the playground and kids were playing. He decided to stand near the doors that lead back into the school and just stand there, watching everyone playing.

Eliza’s class must have been led out shortly after his own as Eliza came running up to him. “Ichirou! I haven’t seen you all day. How is school? How do you like Ms. Brown? Isn’t she the nicest teacher you’ve ever met? Well, you haven’t met the other teachers, but Ms. Brown is the best to have.”

Ichirou gave Eliza a smirk. “Yeah, she’s alright. Don’t really like being told how I should do things though.” He looked past her, as he could see over her head as he stood taller than her. Someone was coming this way. “Who’s that guy?” He saw a big kid making their way with two other kids following him. One of the kids was in Ichirou’s class he was the only angel in his class besides the teacher, and he sat to the right of Ichirou.

“Oh, that’s Kojima. He’s like mean and stuff. Though, why he is coming over here, I don’t know?” Eliza looked a bit scared as they were walking over towards them, but she was standing close to Ichirou.

“Hey you, new kid. What are you doing talking to a kindergarten baby?” The tallest one, and the oldest in the group, Kojima spoke. Ichirou could smell that he was indeed a Vampire, brown hair, and green eyes. From the way Eliza was giving off the sense of fear, Ichirou knew this guy wasn’t someone to mess with.

“I’m not talking to a baby. I’m talking to my sister.” Ichirou replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Kojima laughed at him. “That baby isn’t your sister. She’s human.” He stepped up closer to Ichirou. “You might not know, but here we don’t talk to babies and we don’t like punks like you acting all cool, new kid.”

Ichirou smirked. “Well, for your information. She is my sister, whether you can believe it or not and I’m not acting. I just dislike the school.”

“You’re right, Ryan,” Kojima said, as he spoke to the kid behind him. The kid, with blond hair and blue eyes, was in Ichirou’s class. “This kid doesn’t know his place and we are going to teach him a lesson.” Ichirou saw Kojima ball up on of his fists, but before he could even land a hit, Ichirou moved out of the way, taking Eliza with him so she didn’t get hurt.

“I would suggest you stop your aggression towards me and focus on something else. I do not need to fight you or anyone.” Ichirou took his hands out of his pockets and turned his back on them as he looked at Eliza. “Why don’t you tell me-” His words were cut off from the punch to the back of his head from Kojima’s fist.

Ichirou closed his eyes, trying to remain as calm as possible. “Watch out, Ichirou!” Eliza shouted from his side as another punch landed on his spine. This made Ichirou stumble forward a bit. He turned right around quickly to see Kojima take a few more steps towards him and as he took his steps, he had pushed Eliza to the ground.

“I’m going to make sure you never come back to school.” Kojima went to swing his fist again, but Ichirou was quicker, slamming his fist into Kojima’s face, breaking his nose under the pressure of his punch.

“As I said, I have no need to fight you, but you pushed my little sister, I would say sorry to her, if I were you.” Ichirou stood his ground. This kid was a bit taller than him, but he didn’t care. He would gladly give him a piece of his mind if this continued.

Ichirou hadn’t noticed the group of kids that surround him, till a teacher came up to the group. “Break up, you guys.” The teacher was a male one and he pushed his way through the kids to the center and grabbed Kojima’s arm and Ichirou’s arm. “Both of you are going to the office now.” He dragged them back into the school to the office where Ichirou had to sit in one chair, as Kojima sat in another chair on the other end of the office. Two kids had followed Kojima in. One Ichirou didn’t know and the other was Ryan, the blond-haired blue-eyed angel from his class.

“Kojima, my office please.” Came a voice coming from the principal's office but Ichirou didn’t see who it was, but it was a man from the sounds of the voice.

Sitting there, the secretary shook his head. “First day of school and already in a fight. With Kojima, no less.” He shook his head at Ichirou.

“Not my fault the kid started it. I was talking to my sister.” Ichirou grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. It was something the teacher warned him not to do, but he didn’t care, he wasn’t sitting in the classroom.

A few moments passed before the door to the principal's office was opened and out walked the three kids. “Now, go to the nurses' office and get your nose looked at.” Came that voice which must be the principal's voice. As soon as the three kids walked out of the office, the voice called out. “Ichirou, my office please.”

Ichirou got up, looked at the secretary, who still didn’t look impressed. He walked around the desk and headed into the principal's office. “Have a seat.” The older looking man said as he sat in his office chair. Ichirou closed the door and took up the seat near him and looked at the older man. “Now, here at this school, Ichirou. We do not like violence. We do not like it when our students behave or act violently towards each other. In this school, we behave and we act like civilized members of our community. That means we listen and follow the rules of the school. This is your first day here, and I would expect this to be your first and last visit to my office, do you understand?”

“Crystal clear,” Ichirou smirked. “Now, what are you going to do about his punishment?”

The principal looked at Ichirou like he wasn’t making any sense. “What do you mean? No one is getting punished here. If there was going to be a punishment, you would be getting detention after school, young man. As it is your first day here, I will let you off with a warning.”

“Me? I would be punished for walking away from who is clearly the bully here at this school?” Ichirou was looking at this man like he was not seeing the real picture here. “I was talking with my sister when-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Ichirou. You punched Kojima inflicting a broken nose on him. You would be getting the punishment. If you don’t change your attitude here, you will be getting detention.” The older man sounded stern and his words held a threat of punishment in them.

That’s when Ichirou notices a family photo behind him on his desk. There standing with the principal was a woman and two older girls with a young boy, Kojima. Now Ichirou saw what was going on here, favoritism. His son was the youngest in the family photo so he was the baby of the family and his father was the principal and wouldn’t dare punish his own son. He smirked, realizing this world of school was just as corrupt as the world on the mainland. All because Ichirou was a Vampire, the man got away with raping him because he was a human.

“I see how it is.” Ichirou got up from the chair. The older man tried to stop Ichirou from walking away with his voice as Ichirou left the office, but Ichirou didn’t listen and kept on walking. He was headed towards the doors that would take him back to the playground but as the school bell rang, Ichirou turned towards his classroom and walked in. The teacher looked up at him, but neither of them said a word as the other kids all came into the classroom.

The young teacher stood up in front of the small class and was about to open her mouth when Ichirou stood up from his desk. “Don’t bother telling me to sit down. I will be seeing myself to the principal’s office here anyways. I like writing the way I was taught, I don’t care for printing, so I won’t be printing like you want me to.” Ichirou stared hard at the teacher, her mouth shut. “I have another thing to say. This school is corrupt if the new kid, who was talking to his sister gets picked on by a bully, who happens to be the principal’s son. I stood up to him when he pushed my sister to the ground, yet because I broke his nose, I’m the one who would get detention. The principal didn’t even ask for my side of the story, just sat me down and told me I should learn to behave. Well, I’m not going to behave in a school that’s just as corrupt as the mainland.”

The teacher nodded her head, but before Ichirou could turn around and see himself out, she stopped him. “Ichirou, would you please sit down. You don’t need to go to the principal’s office.” Ichirou raised a brow at her words. “We all know what happens when Kojima is involved in anything. Yes, it isn’t fair. If you don’t want to print, you can use cursive writing. It’s clear you have had a lot of practice and it’s easy to read, so if you want to handwrite than do so. It’s clear you have a lot of intelligence, so we will leave it at that. Just stay away from Kojima from now on.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Then tell his puppy dog to tell him to lay off of me.” Ichirou pointed to Ryan, who sat there with a shocked expression. “You aren’t fooling anyone with that innocent Angel act. You follow Kojima around like a lost puppy dog and you were by Kojima’s side when Kojima was called into the office. It’s clear you stay by Kojima’s side to make him seem innocent, because why would someone be a bully if they have an Angel by their side.”

“Ichirou, please don’t point fingers at your classmates.” The young teacher spoke. “Ryan, you shouldn’t be hanging around people that will give you a bad name.” She turned back to Ichirou. “Please, will you take your seat so I can continue with today’s lesson plan?”

Closing his eyes slightly, Ichirou rolled them at her, as he retook his seat. This school was going to be interesting. He didn’t like the idea of going to school at first, but now he had something to deal with. Just how was he going to deal with this kid Kojima? He didn’t know, but he needed a plan to make it happen.

* * *

That night at the dining table with the whole family, Eliza was going on about what she did in class today, and Mizuki and Kazayuki were listening to her, just until she got to the part of Ichirou getting into a fight. They both stopped her and looked at Ichirou.

“I didn’t get into a fight, or at least I didn’t start it. I was talking with Eliza when the school’s bully came up to me. He went to punch me, I ignored him, walked away with Eliza. He pushed me and then he pushed Eliza, I broke his nose for that.” Ichirou bluntly told them.

“He did what to Eliza?” Mizuki stood up, knocking the chair to the ground that he sat on, looking at Eliza to explain.

“Mama, it’s okay. He just pushed me out of the way. He had his eyes set on Ichirou, not me.” Eliza was trying to defend the bully at school.

“That doesn’t give him the right to lay a hand on you,” Mizuki told her, as his eyes were back on Ichirou. “And you, you gave him a broken nose because he pushed Eliza?” Ichirou nodded his head. “What did the principal do about this? Punished you both for fighting?”

Ichirou looked at his father, who wore a scowl on his face, then back at Mizuki, who was hoping there would be some justice to this situation. “No, I didn’t get detention, because it was my first day at school.”

“Well, the first day or not, you both should have gotten detention for fighting on school grounds.” Mizuki sighed in frustration. “You stay away from the boy and he best do the same. You both don’t need to get in trouble for something so juvenile.”

“I’ll try my best. Though, only I would have gotten the detention anyways. He wouldn’t get detention, even if he begged his father for it.” Ichirou scowled down at his plate of food. He barely touched anything, he wasn’t hungry.

“Begged his father?” Mizuki questioned as he looked at Kazayuki. “Are you telling me that it was Kojima? The principal’s son?” Ichirou nodded his head and Mizuki got quiet picking up his chair and sat back down. “He’s the boy that’s in Niko’s class, he pulled Niko’s hair and ripped his skirt off in front of the whole classroom a few years ago. Niko got detention for provoking him to do it.”

Kazayuki nodded his head and folded his hands in front of his face as his elbows rested on the table. He looked at Mizuki. “You are the one who wanted Ichirou to go to school, so you handle this the way you want to. We all know how I would handle this.”

Ichirou looked at his father, then at Mizuki. He had an idea what his father would say to him. Don’t back down, stand up for what’s right, and make sure you land every punch. Mizuki, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking this over. He had a plan already in his head, he was wondering if he should tell them. No, he had to keep it to himself and listen to what Mizuki told him.

“Ichirou, I don’t want you to fight. That means, if he comes at you again, put your hands in your pockets and let him punch you. Every kid I know has always tried to fight back, I know you can take him, but take the punches. If your father or I get the phone call from the school, we will stick up for you.” Mizuki lifted his brown eyes with seriousness in them at Ichirou.

“Yeah, and get known as the new kid who can’t fight.” Ichirou rolled his eyes. Though, what Mizuki said made a lot of sense. That plan might work. He smirked. “Fine, you got yourself a deal. I’ll hold back and put my hands in my pockets. I won’t lift a finger, but I’m not going to provoke him either. Eliza, you will be my witness. If anything happens, you are coming to the office with me, okay?” Eliza nodded her head. “Good. Though, if this doesn’t work. I’m going with my plan.”

Mizuki and Kazayuki both looked at Ichirou, unsure of what he was talking about. They didn’t realize Ichirou had a plan. “Ichirou, don’t do anything that would get you expelled,” Mizuki warned.

Ichirou’s dark red eyes held a wicked look in them. “What I have in mind takes place off school grounds.” The smirk on his face was just as wicked as the look in his eyes.

Mizuki looked at Kazayuki, who just shrugged his shoulders. Neither of them understood what Ichirou was planning. Though, they weren’t sure they wanted to know. They just hoped Ichirou didn’t get into trouble.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, after the bus ride, Ichirou followed Eliza to the playground. She dragged him to where her friends were and introduced Ichirou to all of them. They looked at Ichirou with his naturally black spiked hair, dark red eyes, wearing a grim reaper t-shirt with black jeans and converse shoes. He looked scary to them, but Ichirou smirked lightly.

They were there yesterday when Ichirou broke Kojima’s nose, they feared him not just from his appearance alone, but for him taking on the school bully. Eliza explained that Ichirou was only sticking up for her, and would never hurt anyone. They seemed to accept Eliza’s words and relaxed around Ichirou.

“Are you going to fight again?” A small boy asked Ichirou, pulling on the side of Ichirou’s shirt to get his attention.

“No, I’m not going to fight. Next time, I’m going to let him punch me out. I want to make sure he gets detention.” Ichirou told the smaller boy.

“Oh, but you can take him out if you tried right?” A small girl asked Ichirou.

Nodding his head, Ichirou wore a bigger smirk on his face. Eliza giggled and she and her little friends walked away from Ichirou. Ichirou shifted the backpack on his shoulder as he walked towards the doors he would have to be entering when the school bell rang. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan talking to Kojima and Kojima looked at Ichirou and was slowly stalking towards him. Ichirou closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief when the school bell rang. Save by the bell.

Getting inside the school, Ichirou was pushed from behind, making him stumble forward, but he didn’t even turn around to know who had done it. He wasn’t going to let Kojima provoke him into fighting, so ignoring it, he slipped into his classroom and hung up his backpack.

“Good morning children.” Ms. Brown said as everyone had taken up their seats. “Today we are going…” Class carried on the same way as it had done yesterday. Ichirou hadn’t even bothered to think of anything else as he got to work, finishing everything the teacher assigned them. He would make sure he wouldn’t have any homework.

The bell rang indicating recess and Ichirou switched his mind from school work to what was going to happen on the playground. Though, Ms. Brown would have other plans. “Ichirou, can you stay behind for a moment?” Ichirou cursed to himself in his head as he walked over to the teacher’s desk.

“Ichirou, I’ve noticed from your answers yesterday on the story quiz we had, you have a bigger understanding of things. These answers I would expect from someone in a much higher grade, but not a first-grader. Would you like to be tested?” Ms. Brown was serious about this, as she looked at Ichirou with concern. “Being tested would mean they would test you in subjects and put you in a grade that is suitable for your education.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I don’t think that would be wise. I know things that you probably wouldn’t even know. I know I’m smart, but I have never been to school. The closest thing to schooling that I got was my old babysitter who taught me how to handwrite and read her college text books to me. If you want to challenge me, give me that book that’s in your desk to read instead of making me read those children’s books.”

“What book?” The teacher looked at Ichirou with surprise.

Ichirou pointed to the drawer, which she blushed. “Umm, that book is for adults. I’ll get you some chapter books you can choose from and keep it inside your desk for reading time. Does that sound good, Ichirou?”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders, not realizing why she was blushing just because he knew about that book. “Sure, that sounds good.” He decides he would take his leave, and she waved goodbye to Ichirou as he left. He made his way to the doors that led outside to the school playground. Though he noticed something, all the kids were waiting closer to the doors. Then he noticed Kojima standing there. He understood now. He was going to start something.

Sighing, Ichirou put his hands in his pockets and grabbed the inside of his pockets. He wasn’t going to move his hands, no matter what. He used his shoulder to open the door and his arms were grabbed by Ryan and the other kid that followed Kojima with orange hair and blue eyes. He stood there, kept his mouth shut.

“What? Got nothing to say, punk?” Kojima stood in front of him. Ichirou looked at him and looked over the crowd and seen Eliza standing there with a few friends, she gave him a thumb up. She was there for him. “What’s wrong? Cat’s got your tongue?”

With the two boys holding Ichirou’s arms, Kojima punched Ichirou in the stomach. Ichirou stood there, barely affected by the punch. He had been hit before, and much harder than that and that was just him playing an arm punching game with Yutaka, shot for shot.

Another punch in the gut didn’t affect him like Kojima was suspecting, and it made the boy even angrier. A punch to the face barely made Ichirou stumble back. “What? Are you too baby to fight back? You not man enough?” Kojima taunted him. Ichirou didn’t even blink, as another punch came at his face. Then an uppercut. Ichirou's head flinched up from the punch. “You’re a baby.” The final punch came to his face, directly at his nose, but it didn’t break Ichirou, just gave him a nose bleed.

“What’s going on here?” A teacher’s voice came through all the kids, clearly over towering all the kids and saw what was happening. Both of the boys let go of Ichirou’s arms as the teacher pushed through the kids and grabbed Kojima’s arm and Ichirou’s arm, the two boys following after. Ichirou looked behind him, and behind the two boys, he saw Eliza following, but other kids were following after her as well.

Ichirou was taken to the office and sat in the chair he had sat in before yesterday, his hands still in pockets. Kojima was sitting away from him. His fists seem to be hurting him. The teacher turned around as Eliza rushed in and stood by Ichirou, but the teacher was shocked by the other kids that had followed them into the school. “Okay, everyone this isn’t a show. Please, make your way back to the playground.”

Ichirou looked through the ceiling to floor window wall and seen a few kids give him a thumbs up or a wave. He looked at Eliza, who has a big smile on her face, and shrugged her shoulders. She must have had something to do with this.

“Kojima, my office please.” Kojima stuck his tongue out at Ichirou as he walked towards the principal's office with his two friends.

The secretary got up and walked over to Ichirou with some tissues. “Are you trying to raise Hell?” Ichirou shook his head.

“I walked out of the school and he jumped me. I didn’t even lift a finger.” Ichirou told him. “I don’t care that I’m bleeding. I won’t bleed for long anyways.” Ichirou sniffed. The secretary shook his head and went back around the desk.

The school bell had rung already, Eliza looked worried. “Don’t worry. Mizuki knows that you were coming with me.” He took his one hand out of his pocket and held Eliza’s hand, rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

The door eventually opened and the two boys came out for the office, no Kojima. “Ichirou, my office now.” Ichirou sighed, and he kept his hand in Eliza’s hand and walked with her into the office. “Young lady, can you please go back to class?”

“No, she’s with me. She’s my support.” Ichirou spoke, keeping his hand tight around Eliza’s. It didn’t seem like the older man was going to let Eliza stay in the office with them.

“It seems like she needs your support, not the other way around.” The older man must realize that Eliza was afraid. Of course, her scent told Ichirou she was afraid, but he wasn’t going to deal with this without her. “Fine.” Ichirou sat down, and let Eliza sit on his lap as there was nowhere else to sit for her. “Now, there seems to be a problem here, Ichirou. You just started school yesterday and have already started two fights with Kojima. I understand that you have never been to a school before and probably lived in a bad part of town where fighting is common. Here, at this school fighting isn’t acceptable. I let you get off with a warning yesterday, but maybe you need to be punished. A week of detention and no recess at all. How does that sound?”

Ichirou fought back a growl in his chest. He looked at Kojima as the principal spoke, and Kojima had a slight smile on his face, taunting Ichirou. Eliza was shaking on his lap, squeezing his hand, clearly, she was angry now, not afraid. “I didn’t even raise a hand to your son. I walked out of the school and he started punching me. I’m in pain here, not your son. If I’m the one getting into trouble for your son’s actions, that’s favoritism. You would rather shut up everyone with punishment and let your son walk free without any punishment.”

“Ichirou, that’s not the case here. The case is you provoked Kojima yesterday, raised your fist first at Kojima, and today, you asked Kojima to punch you in the face for giving him a broken nose, saying giving him payback for breaking his nose.” The older man looked at Ichirou and Eliza. Ichirou could see Eliza was in shock. “Even your support is in shock finding out this information.”

Ichirou smirked. “She’s in shock from the lies falling out of your mouth. How many times does your son end up in this office, and you always listen to your son’s words first, and never hear the other side of the story? I bet you every single time. Though, your son is a Vampire.” Ichirou looked at Kojima. “You are under your son’s spell. You don’t even come out to see the victims of your son’s actions. You feel your son in the office and call him first, always. Not even moving from your chair.”

“Are you accusing Kojima of manipulation? You understand that accusing someone of that is a big problem, Ichirou?” The older man inched closer to Ichirou and Eliza.

“Ichirou isn’t accusing him of anything. Ichirou knows things, he knows about having a special ability. Ichirou has his own, though he’s banned from using his because it causes him to pass out every time.” Eliza talked back to the principal. She had understood what Ichirou was hinting at, though it didn’t seem like the principal was phased by her words.

“Both of you, detention for accusing Kojima of manipulation. I’ll see you both after school.” The principle wrote up two slips. “Take these to your teachers. They will make sure you both make it to detention.”

Ichirou took the two slips from him and crumpled them up in his hand, letting them fall to the floor. “I don’t think so.” He picked Eliza up off his lap and retook her hand. “We are going to class and hopefully we won’t see you again.” Ichirou rolled his eyes. Something had to be done. Learning a little bit of who Kojima was, he knew he had to find another way around this.

Ichirou walked Eliza to her classroom, the teacher looked up at Ichirou and the kids were on the floor as she was reading a book. Eliza sighed as she walked in and Ichirou waved at the teacher, before walking back to his classroom. He entered his classroom and the teacher gasped and rushed over to him with a tissue box. Oh, he forgot about the bloody nose.

“Come here, let’s clean up that blood. Let’s make sure it isn’t bleeding any more.” The teacher pushed Ichirou to the sink in the classroom and started helping him, cleaning his face and chin. “I heard what happened after you left the classroom. I can’t believe what happened.”

“Neither can the principal believe it,” Ichirou looked towards Ryan. “I think I know why the principal believes whatever his son tells him.” He smirked.

“Oh, Ichirou, just ignore Kojima.” The teacher spoke to Ichirou. “There, your nose has stopped bleeding awhile ago, but I got the blood off your face.” Ichirou nodded his head, he moved away from the teacher and went to his deck. He sat down and the teacher continued with whatever lesson she was going through. Ichirou focused on her words, he didn’t need to worry about anything right now.

* * *

Even though Ichirou threw the slips out, the principal had told their teachers they had detention, and Ichirou and Eliza were escorted to the office and sat on chairs. Ichirou folded his hand in front of his face as he rested his elbows on his knees. The teacher had kept him from going outside after the first time. She made him clean the classroom, to give him something to do.

Though, when he came to the office and seen Eliza rage flared in his system. She had a black eye. He heard from one of the kids there was a fight on the playground and someone got punched in the eye from Kojima, but he didn’t think Kojima would go so low to punch Eliza. He had to keep calm, he knew that, but he was ready to snap at any moment.

“Ichirou, my office now.” The voice of the principal came through his deep thoughts. Ichirou stood up and walked into the principal’s office. “Please shut the door.” Ichirou did as he was told and stood there by the door. “Take a seat.” Ichirou shook his head. “Ichirou, you have to take a seat, acting like that makes you childish.”

“I am a child, so acting childish seems pretty much in the norm.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest. “I have to know what happened to my sister. You are going to answer me, and if you say anything about your son having involvement, you are just proving my point.”

“And what point is that, Ichirou? Accusing Kojima of having some manipulation over me. I will have to stop you there. Kojima has nothing of the sort, I had him tested, and he doesn’t have any special ability.” The older man told Ichirou.

“Was that before, or after he already learned how to use his special ability to manipulate the doctors into believing he doesn’t have anything?” Ichirou smirked.

“If you keep this up, I am going to have to suspend you, and I don’t think your parents would like that very much.” The older man tried to use Ichirou’s parents to get him to cooperate.

“Mizuki is afraid of me, he knows I can turn on him at any moment. My father’s idea of school is that I can learn better out in the real world than in a classroom. Suspending me would just prove that my father is right and Mizuki should have never registered me up for school. Besides, they know me a lot better than you do and know I never lie. I don’t gain anything from lying.” Ichirou was watching the man reached for the phone and was about to start dialing in numbers, but paused and put the phone back on the receiver.

“Ichirou, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” The man looked at Ichirou. “The easy way is you do your time. The hard way you and your sister are both suspended.”

“You found my weakness and are using it against me. My sister is a human, she knows not to fight, she grew up around Vampires and knows they can be dangerous and now, you are punishing her for something she didn’t even do. How much lower can you go? Really, how much lower?” Ichirou was testing him now.

“You want to push my buttons, Ichirou. I’ll expel you both and make sure she can’t get into another school here.” The principal warned Ichirou. It was clearly seen in his eyes he wasn’t lying.

“Call my father and tell him you are expelling both of us and see what happens.” Ichirou knew his father wouldn’t stand for that, expelling Ichirou he might not care, but Eliza, she was a little girl who did nothing wrong.

“You just told me your father doesn’t care about school, so why would he care if you are both expelled?” The older man grinned at Ichirou, thinking he had him right where he needed him.

Ichirou snorted. “My father doesn’t care about my education, he knows I’m too smart for my own good. Though Eliza, she’s the princess in the family and one wrong move against her education would be like signing your death certificate.” He didn’t want to threaten the principal, but he was threatening him back. It only made sense he throw fear at him like he was trying to do.

“Alright, Ichirou.” The principal pulled out a piece of paper and Ichirou couldn’t see what he was doing. “You are here suspended from this school for fighting, for the rest of the week. Eliza gets off on a punishment.” He handed the paper to Ichirou that was all filled out, probably had it filled out before Ichirou came. “If you don’t hand that to your parents, they will be getting one in the mail. I don’t want to see you back on school grounds till next week. Now get out of here and go home.”

Ichirou stuffed the paper into his backpack and walked out of the office. He stopped at Eliza and held out his hand. “Come on, I’ll walk us home.” She got up, looking at the principal’s office before tagging along with Ichirou. The walk home was long, but Ichirou knew how to get back home. He kept Eliza by his side and didn’t pay any attention to others.

When they had finally made it home, Ichirou opened the door and Eliza shuffled inside, toeing off her shoes before walking over to the couch and laid down face first. “Never walking home from school again.” She mumbled into the couch cushion.

“Sorry, I should have realized you can’t walk that whole distance.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders, taking his backpack off and opening it up. He pulled out the suspension letter and glared at it. “I won’t be at school for the rest of the week, Eliza. You are going to have to protect yourself and stay away from Kojima.” He walked over so he was standing behind the couch and Eliza got up on her knees and looked at him.

“What happened? Why can’t you come to school?” Eliza chewed on her lip. Ichirou was Kojima’s target, and since knowing Ichirou was Eliza’s brother, that made her a target when Ichirou wasn’t around.

Ichirou reached out and touch Eliza’s face. He looked at her blackeye that was bigger than the shape of his fist. Just how hard did this guy punch? He sure didn’t punch hard when he was punching Ichirou, but he left a mark on Eliza. “Tell me how the blackeye happened?”

“Huh, what blackeye?” The door had opened to Mizuki walking in carrying Yuriel and Kazayuki was right behind him. Mizuki sat Yuriel on the floor to walk around, or rather crawl as the little one refused to walk. They knew the two-year-old could walk, but if no one was holding his hand, he didn’t walk. The way Ichirou was standing, he was blocking their view of Eliza’s black eye. “Well, Ichirou, you don’t have a black eye.”

Ichirou sighed, looked down at the floor, and took a step away from Eliza. Mizuki gasped and rushed over, holding Eliza’s head. “My baby has a black eye, what? How did this happen? Oh, mama will make you feel better.” He threw his arms around Eliza and held her close to him. He would have probably picked her up to if the couch back wasn’t in the way.

Ichirou could feel eyes on him, his father’s eyes to be exact. The door to the condominium slammed shut and Ichirou lifted his head to look at his father. “Tell me what happened right now, Ichirou?”

“I can tell you what happened during the morning, but I was just asking about what happened to Eliza.” Ichirou wasn’t going to guess, he knew he should have been there, but he didn’t know Kojima would take it out on Eliza as well.

“You should have protected her. You are her big brother and big brothers protect their little sisters.” Kazayuki shouted at Ichirou and took a step towards Ichirou.

Ichirou held up the paper in his hand. “I wasn’t there to protect her, but I protected her from getting suspended or expelled. I did what I could.” Kazayuki snatched the paper from Ichirou’s hand and read over it. His father walked around the couch and sat down next to Eliza.

“You are suspended for the rest of this week. You have only been at school for two days and this is what happens.” Kazayuki didn’t sound impressed. “I told you Ichirou is too wild for school, Mizuki.”

“Now, don’t jump to conclusions. There has to be a good reason.” Mizuki sighed and walked around to sit beside Eliza on the other end of the couch. “Sit down, Ichirou.” Ichirou sighed as he walked around the couch and sat on the armchair facing the couch. “We need to know what happened, so explain your side of the story, Ichirou.”

“It happened at morning recess. I stayed back because the teacher wanted to know if I wanted to be tested for my grade because she thinks I’m not going to be challenged enough in the first grade.” Ichirou looked at his father. “She says I have a higher understanding of things that I shouldn’t at my age.” Kazayuki nodded his head. “I said I didn’t want to be tested and I left the classroom to go outside. There I was grabbed by Kojima’s two friends and Kojima used me as a punching bag.”

“A lot of us saw. Ichirou was taking Kojima’s fists like they weren’t hurting him at all. One the last one hurt Ichirou, making his nose bleed.” Eliza smiled, she seemed proud that Ichirou could take a beating. Ichirou wasn’t proud of that fact.

“I was sent to the office with Kojima.” Ichirou shook his head. “Eliza came in with me. She was there and because she was there, she got detention as well.”

“What? Eliza, you got detention because you went into the office with Ichirou?” Mizuki asked his daughter and Eliza nodded her head.

“You should have seen it. Kojima was calling Ichirou a baby for not fighting as he punched Ichirou. A lot of kids were standing around watching, hoping Ichirou would get Kojima in trouble as he had his hands in his pockets the whole time. Everyone followed us into the school, but I snuck into the office to be by Ichirou’s side as his nose got bloody.” Eliza seemed to have a more cheerful expression about what happened.

“It didn’t work out that way. Kojima told a different story, so we both got detention, me and Eliza.” Ichirou shook his head. “My teacher knew what was going on so she made the suggestion that I stay back and clean the classroom during lunchtime recess and afternoon recess.”

“That doesn’t tell us how you got suspended, Ichirou.” Kazayuki shook the paper in Ichirou’s direction.

“Well, I want to know how that black eye happened, that made me stand my ground to only get suspended.” Ichirou looked at Eliza.

Eliza frowned. “I stayed in for lunch with Lexi, because we were playing with the sand table. Afternoon recess, I was playing near the monkey bars, when Kojima and his friends came up to me, asking where Ichirou was. I told them I didn’t know. They said that was the wrong answer and punched me in the face. It hurt really badly that I screamed and the teacher took us both into the office. Kojima went in first with his friends, then I had to go in. I was crying so much the principal said to leave.” She sniffled a few times and Mizuki wrapped his arm around her.

“I’m going to give that kid a piece of my mind.” Ichirou fisted both his hand, anger slowly turning into rage. “After school, we were both escorted to the office for detention. That’s when I saw Eliza’s eye and I went into the principal's office. He threatened to call you guys and I told him that won’t work, as he was going to tell the side of the story his son told, then he realized my parents weren’t my weakness, Eliza was. Threatened to have both of us expelled and make sure that Eliza couldn’t go to another school.” Ichirou looked at his father with pleading eyes. “Then, I had to, I’m sorry father. I used his tactic of threatening me and threatened his life if he did anything to Eliza’s education, that you would end him. But I didn’t say that exactly.”

Both Mizuki and Kazayuki were thinking this over, they looked to be deep in thought. “I’ll pull them out of this school and put them in the other school. Sure, this school has the best learning environment with the small classes, but the other school is just the same, just bigger classrooms.”

Kazayuki shook his head. “No, that’s running away from the problem and we don’t run away from our problems, Mizuki.” He stood up and paced in front of the couch. "We need to get the principal fired, or something.”

“I don’t think it’s the principal's fault,” Ichirou spoke and they looked at him. “I have a feeling, a feeling that Kojima manipulates his father. Like if that’s his special ability. Though, his father said he doesn’t have one.”

“That can’t be right. All children are tested by doctors to find out if they have an ability that could be used for their benefit. Children that have something that could affect their education are sent to the other school where there is a lot of children to make it difficult to pinpoint who does what and how they achieve it.” Mizuki explained to Ichirou.

“What if Kojima already knew how to manipulate and did it to the doctors so he could go to the school where his father was? Have you thought of that?” Ichirou spoke, so sure of himself.

“Manipulation isn’t something that would danger a child’s education, Mizuki. They were looking for ways as in reading the test answers or reading minds.” Kazayuki told him. “They asked about Ichirou’s and I had to tell them he didn’t have one because we lived on the mainland. Ichirou’s isn’t something that would affect his education unless he was in college going to be a doctor.”

Mizuki nodded. “Okay, well now that we have all this sorted out. I’ll start supper.” Mizuki stood up from the couch. “My baby girl gets to pick what’s for supper.” He smiled at Eliza, who seemed more cheerful now.

When the two walked away to the kitchen area, Kazayuki knelt in front of Ichirou. “You have a few days to figure out what you are going to do about this.”

“Father, I have a plan. He hit my sister. I broke his nose because he pushed Eliza to the ground. Now I need to do something worse to him but off school grounds. So don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out before I go back to school.” Ichirou’s dark red eyes showed determination in them. Kazayuki nodded his head and got up. He knew his father wouldn’t approve of violence, but he also lived by the code, an eye for an eye. Sure, Ichirou always came back hard and strong, but this was his sister.


	11. Chapter 11

“I got it, Ichirou. I got the information!”

Eliza hollered as she ran into the condominium. Ichirou was busy, laying on the couch, watching cartoons. Though he really wasn’t busy then. He just needed something to keep his mind off of other things. “What information did you get?”

Ichirou had given Eliza a job, a simple job. Find out where Kojima lived and if there was anywhere outside of school that he hung around at. It was a simple task and most of the lower grades now knew Ichirou was Eliza’s brother and if she was asking about Kojima, he figured they wouldn’t dare ask her why.

“Well, I told Lexi what I was doing for you, and she told her brother Niko, who then gave Lexi an envelope, which Lexi handed me the envelope to me today, telling me it was information you needed to know.” Eliza finally stopped to take a breath and walked over to the couch and dropped the envelope in Ichirou’s lap.

Opening up the envelope, Ichirou read it. Kojima’s address, a list of places and parks he frequents, and even a little note about where he went after school. It was perfect. The perfect information Ichirou needed. “Thanks, Eliza.” He gave her a smirk. “Now I just need to put my plan into action.”

“Ichirou, be safe. I know you are a Vampire, you are smart and you like action, but be safe.” Eliza was on the verge of crying with her little sniffles. Ichirou sat up and hugged her, pulling her onto his lap.

“I’m not going to get hurt and if I do, you can say ‘told you so’. I’m not going to do anything extreme, maybe a few broken bones, but what I am doing is for justice. I’m going to be a vigilante, just like the character’s in my comic books.” Ichirou smirked, petting her head.

“Ichirou, you know those books are make-believe right?” Eliza gave him a concerning look. “You can’t just put on a cape and say you can fly.”

“No, I’m not putting on a cape. I’m just going to do what they do, in the fighting sense. I’ll make sure he fears me. I’ll make sure he knows what other kids have felt by his bullying actions.” Ichirou hugged Eliza, just as the door opened to Kazayuki walk in.

Kazayuki looked at the two on the couch and shook his head. “It’s nice to see you having a sibling moment, but I have some news.” Both kids turned towards Kazayuki, looking at him. “It seems we will be having some guests for a few days. Lexi and Niko are going to be spending a few nights here.”

Eliza’s eyes went wide. “Really? Lexi and Niko are going to be spending the night. Yes, I’m so happy I could just-Eeeee!” Eliza squealed.

Ichirou raised a brow. “Why are they spending the night here? They never have before.”

Kazayuki smirked. “Seems Yomi had gone into labor sooner than expected and they need a place to stay. Mizuki offered our place for the kids to stay. So, I hope you both be on your best behavior.” Kazayuki was looking at Ichirou more so. “Lexi will be sleeping in Eliza’s room and Niko will sleeping in your room, Ichirou. You have a big enough bed for the two of you, but you can sleep on the couch.”

Ichirou nodded his head. Niko was older than Ichirou, by at least three years. Niko was actually in Kojima’s class, so that would put him at about 10 years old. Ichirou knew of him, but never really spoke to him. He was the most feminine boy Ichirou knew. He could pass for a girl. Sure, the kid in Ichirou’s class dressed like a bit girly could pass for a girl, but Niko had the charm.

“I’m going to get supper ready. Mizuki went to pick them up and Yuriel. Mizuki will be spending the day at home with Yuriel.” Kazayuki walked over to the kitchen area and started making up supper. Ichirou moved from the couch to the kitchen island and sat on one of the stools. “What is it, Ichirou?”

Ichirou sighed. “You know I told you I would deal with Kojima when I found a way. Well, I have found that way. You said you didn’t want details, but I’m going to tell you, I’m doing it tomorrow after school.”

“Ichirou, I don’t want you wandering around on the streets. They aren’t as safe as everyone makes them out to be.” Kazayuki turned around and faced Ichirou, leaning against the counter. “I can’t tell you can’t. When you get an idea in your head, you follow through with it till the end. Just make sure you are home for supper. If you aren’t home by then, I’m coming for you.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I understand, father. I will be home by supper time tomorrow.” He jumped off the stool and headed to his room. If Niko was going to be staying in his room, he might as well make sure it was spotless.

* * *

Later that night, Ichirou got dressed for sleeping. He never bothered to before, but there were guests in their home so he needed to dress in sweatpants, at least. Getting his sweatpants on, he was about to leave his room when the door opened to Niko coming in.

“Oh, sorry. I should have knocked first.” Niko was starting to pull the door shut, but Ichirou stopped him from shutting that door. Ichirou looked and saw that Niko was actually wearing a white lacy nightdress, almost see-through, as Ichirou could see the pink underwear Niko was wearing underneath.

“No, I was just leaving. So, this is where you will be staying for the night.” Ichirou opened the door wider for the other to walk in. Ichirou was only a head shorter than Niko.

“Are you not sleeping in here as well?” Niko turned around, looking at Ichirou with an innocent look. “I-I don’t tell many people this, but I think I can trust you.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I’m not going to judge you. Hell, if I was going to judge you, it would be disrespectful of me because of my brother.” He was hinting at the fact that Yuriel wasn’t a normal boy, he was a hermaphrodite.

“No, it’s not that.” Niko blushed and sat on the bed. “I don’t sleep well, alone.”

Now, Ichirou got the picture. “Okay, so you want me to sleep in the same bed with you. We don’t know each other that well to even be friends.”

“I know, but I can’t sleep with Lexi. I usually do, but Mizuki already made it clear that the girls will be sharing a bed and that we, boys, have to share one too. Though Kazayuki said that you’d be sleeping on the couch, so I’m asking if you will just stay and sleep with me.” Niko wasn’t even looking at Ichirou, though Ichirou could tell he was red in the face. Ichirou got in front of Niko and bent down. He reached out to touch Niko’s chin and lift it so their eyes met.

“I don’t feel exactly comfortable sleeping in a bed with you, because I don’t know you.” Ichirou’s words were making tears form in Niko’s eyes. “Though, I get it, a new place, different settings. I’ll sleep with you just for tonight, but tomorrow, we’ll think of something to help you.” Ichirou sighed. He wasn’t new to sleeping in a bed with another, but the other was usually his father and on the tour bus. Sleeping in bed with a kid he barely knew was unsettling to him, but he would see how this night went. He didn’t have to go to school tomorrow, so if he didn’t sleep, he could nap tomorrow. Niko had school tomorrow and probably didn’t want to be dead tired.

“Thank you, Ichirou.” Niko crawled into bed, under the covers, and took the spot closest to the wall. Ichirou just nodded his head, shut off the light, and followed suit, laying in bed, though near the edge. Then the unexpected happens and Niko curled up right against Ichirou’s chest and sighed softly. “You better teach him a lesson tomorrow. No holding back.”

Ichirou stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He hadn’t thought about it, not since his father got home. He was going to take Kojima on, sometime after school. That brown-haired and green-eyed bastard. He would need his sleep then. He let out a yawn and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would take him.

* * *

Everyone got up that morning but Ichirou. He told Niko he was staying in bed for a while. Ichirou guessed everyone had breakfast and Mizuki managed to get everyone to school. Mizuki was driving them. Then Mizuki came back and called down the hallway. “Ichirou, get your ass out of bed.”

Ichirou grumbled. Yeah, since he was suspended they still made Ichirou get up with Eliza and put her on the bus, but today he thought he would have slept in. He slept surprising well last night, being clung to by a 10-year-old and all. He just knew he had to plan out his day and he didn’t want to dwell on it. So, he got up and grabbed a towel from behind his door, sniffed it. It’s had only been used twice and it didn’t have that three-times used smell to it so it was good enough for him. He was a boy, not a girl.

He walked to the bathroom all the kids shared and seen Yuriel crawling his way. “Hey there, buddy. Big brother is smelly and needs a bath.” He watched Yuriel stop and sit on his butt in the middle of the hallway. Mizuki must have sent Yuriel his way to get him up. So, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

After a refreshing shower, Ichirou walked into his room, towel around his waist, and started looking through his dresser drawers. The first step in his plan was what was he going to wear. He had to keep hidden, and not stand out. Though, he didn’t want to wear something that was still in good shape. He liked his clothes. They made a boy, well just that, a boy. After settling on an old black t-shirt with a gothic-looking cross on the back, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of black socks, Ichirou was dressed. Though, he still felt like he was missing something. His hoodie. He grabbed one of the black hoodies from the closet that he had, lucky he picked a plain one and put it on.

The next step in his plan was to be well fed. Well, he was skipping the food part and going for the blood. He had planned in his head to drink more than his fair share, but with Mizuki around, so his daily limit of two was all he was going to have. If they didn’t give him a daily limit he would have a blood package every time he was feeling hungry, even snack time.

Mizuki saw that Ichirou was in the kitchen and moved over to him. “Where are you going today? You have a date with someone you like?” He was teasing Ichirou as he leans on the kitchen island.

“No, I don’t.” Ichirou shot him a glare before he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I’m going after Kojima. With Niko’s information, I can corner him. Though, I’ll need to get to the school before it’s out so I can go to my destination.” He chewed on his lower lip slightly. “Will you take me with you when you go to pick up everyone?”

“Ichirou, violence isn’t going to solve anything.” Mizuki was trying to start to reason with him.

“Not fighting didn’t solve a thing, it got me a bloodied nose and Eliza a black eye. He doesn’t fear a thing because his father is the principal. I’m going out there and I am going to instill fear into him, he has to know that being a bully to other kids isn’t how he’s going to get through life. You have to work your way to the top before you can put fear in other people below you.” Ichirou narrowed his eyes at Mizuki.

“That’s not exactly how things work in the real world, Ichirou.” Mizuki shook his head. “You need people by your side to help you get there. To make it to the top, along with your effort to show you have what it takes. Take our job, for example, we play in bands, we worked hard to get as good as we are now. We had the support of our band members help us make it this far, as well as our fans. The company that records us and books us shows, we need the support of our manager to get us farther. No one bullies anyone, we support each other and bring everyone up.”

Ichirou gave Mizuki a look that he wasn’t believing him. “How do you think the manager you have got so many acts? Bullying his way up. How do you think you get the best spots on a tour? Bullying. Bullying can be in different forms, not just physical or straight out words. Come on, open your eyes. You’ll see it out there. Persuasion and manipulation are acts of bullying. You don’t think about it, because you don’t see the harm in it. Though, we are all guilty of being a bully at one point or another. I know I am.” Ichirou tossed out his empty package. “All I am asking is you take me near the school and I’ll be home for supper.”

“Whatever, Ichirou. You better not get into deeper trouble because of this. I don’t want you coming home with a police escort, you understand?” Mizuki knew this was impossible, knew trying to get Ichirou to see what he was doing was wrong. Ichirou had a plan and he was going to follow it through, the only way to stop Ichirou would be to tie him up and that wasn’t an option here.

* * *

The car ride to the school was a quiet one. Yuriel was asleep and Mizuki didn’t speak to Ichirou. Ichirou knew why Mizuki didn’t want him to do this. When Mizuki stopped the car about a block away from the school, he turned around. “Ichirou, please be safe. Don’t do something foolish.”

Ichirou had his hand on the door release. “Mizuki, I’m not going to kill him. Killing isn’t going to solve anything, it never does.” Mizuki might not be thinking about that, but at least he knew that this seven-year-old boy wasn’t capable of killing. “I’ll be home for supper, I promise.” And he got out of the car.

Ichirou looked around and seen the street sign, one of the streets that were nearby the convenient store. He knew which way to go then, using the directions he got out of the city map in the phone book, studying the map. He knew this was the suburbs, no one ever bothered anyone in the suburbs, but he had to still watch himself.

Walking slowly, he didn’t want to rush himself. There was no need for rushing, he just hoped he was doing the right thing. Yes, he was starting to have second thoughts about this. He had a choice to walk away now and not bother with it, but the nagging feeling, if he walked away, would be there. He was conflicted, feeling guilty about doing this, or feeling unsatisfied for not doing it. He needed to get his thoughts together, so when he got to the store, he ducked behind the store near the garbage cans. The smell was horrid, but he would have to wait it out. He was in the perfect advantage point to stay hidden and see from both directions when Kojima and his friends made their way to the store. He waited and waited, half-hour had gone by before Ichirou spotted Kojima and the two others. There were headed into the store.

Ichirou came out from behind the dumpsters and stuck to the side of the building this time. Waiting once again for them to come out. Ichirou could feel his hands becoming sweaty, so he kept wiping them on his jeans. He wanted to jump out and start punching them as soon as they got out, but he knew that wouldn’t be smart, not with adults around. The store door opened again and the three boys walked out laughing about whatever they were talking about. Ichirou didn’t bother to listen to their conversation.

The three boys decided to head to the park across the street from the store, which the park was more like a maze with walls built up around the pathway and benches. It was meant to be a place to cool down from a hot day with all the trees panted around. Ichirou made his move once they were out of sight. He ran across the road, not caring about the do not walk sign. Only one driver honked his horn at Ichirou.

He thought of going into the maze, but what if they surrounded him easily? Ichirou took to jumping up on the platform potted areas that the trees grew in and peek over the wall, nothing. Going a bit farther, he heard some voices.

“Move it, man. Take yourself and your baby off my bench.” Ichirou could tell that was Kojima’s voice, but why was he angry. He peeked over the wall and seen a man with a baby looking disgusted at Kojima, and taking his stroller with him. Clearly, Kojima had no respect for adults either. Ichirou balled up his fists. He could jump down and start fighting, but Ichirou wanted to be cheeky. He wanted them to know who he was before they fought, as he was keeping his hood up. He was so close, yet, he couldn’t decide what would be the best choice.

Going for the latter option, jumping down on the pathway, he walked himself into the small seating area where it felt the coolest. Ichirou had his hands in pockets, hood up and over his face a bit as he kept his head down. He didn’t even stop as he walked up to them.

“You are sitting on my bench. Get off.” Ichirou was going to give Kojima a taste of his own medician.

“What, kid? I don’t see your name on it.” Kojima snarled. “Why don't you go home to your mommy and cry about it?”

Ichirou felt a tug on his conscious, that was strange. Did he actually want to go home and cry? No, he didn’t. “How about you get off my bench before I make you?”

The three boys started laughing. “There’s one of you and three of us, what are you going to do? Are you a punk thinking you are better than everyone else?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Ichirou flipped his hood back and ran a hand through his hair.

“You’re suspended.” Ryan, the only Angel in the group of boys, pointed at Ichirou. “You should be at home.”

“I’m suspended from the school grounds. Not from the outside world.” Ichirou smirked. “So, are you going to remove yourself from my bench, or am I going to have to physically remove you?”

Kojima snarled at Ichirou. “You are just a punk, you think you're better than everyone. Next week, you are getting expelled.” He spat his works at Ichirou.

Ichirou shook his head. “Wrong answer.” He went to throw a punch at Kojima but the other boy with him with the orange hair went to grab Ichirou’s sweater. Wrong move. Ichirou was able to switch his fists and punched the boy in the nose. Then Ryan tried to jump on Ichirou, but Ichirou aimed his elbow for a gutshot as he moved closer.

Kojima didn’t like the looks of this and threw down his snacks he had gotten from the store and when to charge at Ichirou from the bench. Well, he did charge Ichirou, but Ichirou slammed an elbow down on his spin. Ryan tried again to attack Ichirou, but Ichirou watched his actions and tripped him just as he grabbed Ichirou’s sweater. Kojima was on Ichirou fast, punching the back of his head. Though, Ichirou was barely phased by the punches.

“You punch like a baby.” Ichirou got up and turned around to face Kojima. Kojima tried to punch Ichirou square in the jaw, but Ichirou caught his fist before it could make contact. Ichirou didn’t hold back, he had Kojima right where he wanted him and now his fist was making contact with Kojima’s face.

* * *

Like he promised his father and Mizuki, Ichirou walked in just before supper. Ichirou had a cut on his lip and his hoodie was ripped up and he walked with a slight limp. He toed off his shoes as he saw everyone looking at him from the dining table. He took off what was left of his sweater, ran a hand through his hair, and shuffled his way to the dining table. There was only one free seat beside Niko and his father.

No one said a word, there was no need to say anything, not with the huge grin on Ichirou’s face. Curious as they made be, they let it slide and enjoyed supper. Kazayuki asked Eliza and Lexi about their day.

“It was fun. Today we got make butterflies out of coffee filters. We painted them too.” Eliza said with excitement.

“We used colored water. The filters absorb the colored water and dry to that color.” Lexi explained.

The two girls told everyone the colors they choose for their butterflies and went on telling them about gym class, rolling around on scooters, and that one of the boys pinched his fingers between the scooter and the floor. The exciting life of a five-year-old.

Mizuki looked at Niko. “What did you do today at school, Niko?”

The boy with light reddish hair and green eyes looked up at Mizuki. “Kojima tore my necklace off. He said he saw me get out of the car with Eliza and that meant I knew where Ichirou was. I told him Ichirou was at home, but he didn’t like that answer. I told him Ichirou was suspended, but he pushed me against the lockers. I sat in the office for a while, until Kojima came to the office, and then the principal dealt with him, before dealing with me. I have to spend my recesses inside cleaning up the classroom, my suggestion to get out of detention.”

Ichirou dropped his fork on his plate and got up. He shuffled his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge door. He was starting to feel angry, but he knew his hungry for blood would solve that issue. He didn’t care if he already had his limit. He sunk his fangs into the plastic and sucked back. Though, slowly.

“That boy is causing nothing but trouble at school. There must be something we could do, like talk to the school board.” Mizuki suggested.

“That won’t help. They tried that before, a bunch of parents. It solved nothing. They don’t want to send him to the other school, because they think he’s just troubled and his grades would benefit being in this school.” Niko told Mizuki.

Kazayuki folded his tattooed arms on the table. “Ichirou, I told you to limit yourself to two packages a day. That’s your third one.”

Ichirou snarled and sucked back the rest and threw the plastic in the garbage. “I needed it, I needed something to calm down.” He walked back over to the table and picked up his fork again. “Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with it.” Ichirou stuffed his mouth full of food, so he couldn’t answer the questions on everyone’s mind.

“Ichirou, I understand this boy is a bully, but fighting a bully is just going to make him bully you more,” Mizuki said, as Kazayuki nodded his head.

“I’m not angry that I beat the crap out of him. I’m angry at myself, for not stopping to think about how everyone was going to deal with him during the days I missed.” Ichirou looked at Niko. “I’m sorry you became one of his targets.”

Niko shook his head. “I’ve been a target of his since the first grade. I just learned how to avoid him mostly.” Then Niko’s face turned in a brighter now, with a smile. “I brought home your homework. I asked your teacher, Ms. Brown. She said you could do it when you got back. But I begged her, she gave me your writing book and spelling book. You have a spelling test on Monday and just fill out your writing book, you’d know what to do.”

“Thanks, Niko,” Ichirou smirked. He never really thought of doing homework. Ms. Brown probably knew that Ichirou could get it done in class as he was quick about it. Probably why the math book didn’t come home.

Everyone finished up supper and sat down to watch a Friday night movie. Ichirou was a bit sore, but he didn’t dare complain or wince about it as Eliza curled up against him on the couch and Niko sat beside him on the couch with Lexi curled up against Niko.


	12. Chapter 12

Saturday came and came with a phone call, Mizuki took Lexi and Niko to the hospital to go see their new baby. Eliza wanted to go, but Mizuki said only family members could and that they will see the new baby once the baby is at home. Ichirou was kind of glad to have his bed back, though he slept in bed with Niko last night as well, he was going to miss being cuddled.

Sunday was pretty relaxing, Ichirou was going to play video games for most of the day till Kazayuki reminded him he had homework. Ichirou said he could do it at school, but Kazayuki said that wasn’t how homework worked. He sat at the dining table and was set to work. Writing out R, S, T was easy, though the teacher had printed them in his book, she even kept the words to one line instead of two.

Mizuki came over and was looking down at his work. “Ah, learning letters.” He grabbed the spelling book. “Do you want me to help you out with a small spelling test?”

Ichirou looked up at Mizuki. “You can if you want. I already know them.” He closed his writing book and pull out a black piece of paper. “Just read them out, in order or not. I don’t know how Ms. Brown does it.”

“Alright, I’ll just read them out in order and I’ll check your work after.” Mizuki looked at the list of ten words and began. After Ichirou wrote one word, he told him the next. After Mizuki checked Ichirou’s work. “You got them all right. Do you want me to give them in a different order?”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “These words are too easy for me.” He grabbed a new piece of paper and looked at Mizuki, Mizuki got the hint and read them out in a different order. He checked over Ichirou’s work. “Again, they are all correct. Would you like to be tested? Your handwriting is clear, your understanding of words is most excellent. Perhaps, you should be in a higher grade.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I’m fine. This is the first time I’ve gone to school to learn. Surely there will be a day I don’t know anything and have to learn something new.” He closed up his books and stuff them into his backpack. “I have learned many things being on the tour bus and learned things from Kelly from her college textbooks. I’ve learned about life in more ways than one, I might be mature than most kids my age, but I have to learn with them.”

“You may act mature sometimes, but you still have an attitude, Ichirou.” Mizuki laughed lightly, which Ichirou glared at him. “Right there. That’s not mature of you at all.” Mizuki got up and ruffled Ichirou’s hair. “Now, help me with supper. Your father will be home soon, and he wants supper when he gets home.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes behind Mizuki’s back and got up. Mizuki wasn’t the best cook, so tonight's supper would be something simple. The only time they had a decent meal was when Kazayuki cooked. Reading cookbooks and experimenting when they weren’t on the tour bus, he became pretty good at it, because he was staying home and looking after Ichirou.

* * *

It was the next day at school, the bus arrived a bit late so they were escorted into their classrooms. Ichirou was the only one that was late to his class, so he hung up his backpack and walked to his desk. He noticed that Ryan’s desk was empty as well, though Ichirou knew he wasn’t on his bus.

The teacher must have seen Ichirou’s curiosity about Ryan’s desk as even Ryan’s nametag on his desk was gone. “Ichirou, there has been a change in our classroom.” Ichirou looked at the teacher. “Ryan will no longer be attending this school. He has gone to the other elementary school. We do not know the reason for this change. Ryan was such a good student.”

Ichirou nodded his head, trying not to roll his eyes. He had an idea of why Ryan was no longer there. Ichirou did threaten him with his life if he got in his way again. Ryan probably went home crying and said he didn’t want to go to school again. He wondered what happened to the other two, he beat them up, but he doubted Kojima would change schools with his father being the principal here.

The day went by easily, Ichirou stayed behind at recess to do his spelling test and finished up the math work he missed. Lunchtime came after a few more lessons from the teacher and Ichirou, once again, didn’t bother to eat. He wasn’t hungry and the teacher didn’t bother him as he laid his head down.

“Ms. Brown. We have a new student attending your class.” The voice of the principal made Ichirou peek over towards the door but still kept his head down. “This is your new student, Hayden. He is a year older, but he needs a safe place to learn so we are putting him back in first grade.”

A blond-haired and blue-eyed student appeared in the doorway. His hair was long and tied back with a white ribbon. Wearing a blue and white striped shirt and faded jeans. He looked scared. Well, Ichirou could guess that being at a new school would do that.

“Oh, hello Hayden. Welcome to your new class. I hope you will have fun in class.” Ms. Brown bent down, smiling at the little boy, who took her hand without hesitation. “We have another student here the same age as you who just joined us last week. Hopefully, you two will become friends.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes and sat up in his desk. He looked towards the boy who hid around the teacher when he saw Ichirou. “You’re an angel, right?” He asked the boy. Ms. Brown was about to tell Ichirou that it didn’t matter, but Ichirou was a faster talker. “I’m a Vampire if you haven’t noticed. My natural eye color is red, so don’t be alarmed by it. I know Vampire’s eyes turn red completely with only black pupils when hungry, but I’m not like that.”

The new student, Hayden peeked out from behind Ms. Brown. “A-are you going to b-bite me?” He spoke so softly, Ichirou was even having a hard time hearing.

Ichirou shook his head. “I don’t bite live specimens. Only plastic.”

“Specimens? What’s that?” Hayden seemed a little more confident in speaking, though was still soft-spoken.

“I’ll let you two get better acquainted. I’ll be at my desk.” Ms. Brown let go of Hayden’s hand. “This will be your desk beside Ichirou, Hayden.” And she walked off as Hayden sat in his desk, his body turned towards Ichirou.

“Specimen is like a living thing, or material used to conduct experiments on. You would be a living specimen to me if I were to bite you. Though, I won’t. I don’t bite others, only plastic.” Ichirou explained.

“Oh, okay.” Hayden still seemed lost by Ichirou’s words. “Why plastic?”

“Well, as a Vampire, we have to keep our bodies alive, in which blood keeps everyone alive. We just need more of it and drink it. We get special packages that are used to store blood and we drink that. Don’t ask me where the blood comes from, but I have a feeling it’s not human blood all the time.” Ichirou smirked, hoping to ease Hayden’s anxious behavior.

“So, you bite the plastic to drink?” Hayden asked, which Ichirou nodded his head. “You new to this school too?”

Ichirou nodded his head again. “Yeah, I was here for two days last week, before I was suspended. Don’t worry, I’m not a trouble maker, but can be when other kids are picked on by older kids. I just happen to have a sister in kindergarten here too.”

“I don’t have any siblings. Does that mean you are seven as well? You seem like you are older or are you just smart?” Hayden eyed him, still nervous and cautious.

“I am seven years old, I should be in the second grade, but this is my first time going to school. I learned from my father and his bandmates about things and even my old babysitter. I have more of an insight into subjects then kids my age should have.” Ichirou didn’t want to sound like the smartest kid in the first grade, but it seems he would have no choice. “Though I know things most kids don’t know, I don’t know things that kids know. I was brought up around other adults, not kids. I only knew how to play by myself. I enjoy video games though. Racing and fighting games.”

Hoping to change the subject to something Hayden might do in his spare time, it was a failure. “I don’t play video games, told it was bad for my brain. I only read or do puzzles at home. I don’t even have many toys. I have a stuffed bear that I talk to, but that’s it.”

Ichirou smirked some more. “Well, keep the whole talking to your stuffed bear to yourself and we’ll be just fine.” He watched Hayden nodded his head. “What kind of books do you read? I have a collection of comic books at home and even some fantasy chapter books with dragons.”

“I’m only allowed to read books that have Angels doing good deeds, or humans doing bad deeds with a life lesson.” Hayden looked down at his desk. “I don’t have much freedom to do other things.”

“Well, we will change that. I’ll bring you into my world.” Ichirou got up and walked to the back of the classroom where his backpack hung on the hook. He opened it up and brought out a comic book. Since he didn’t know if the teacher would remember to get him a book to read during reading time, Ichirou brought his own. Though, Ms. Brown did remember, so his comic book remained in his backpack. He brought it back over to the desks and placed the comic book on Hayden’s desk. “It’s like a picture book, but with more action. Take it home with you and see if you like it. If you don’t, I’ll bring you one of my chapter books. Though they have no pictures.”

Hayden nodded his head. “Books I read don’t have pictures. I think I might enjoy this one, I will take it home and study it.”

Ichirou shook his head. “You don’t need to study it, just read it for fun. If you’re not interested in it, we can find something else you are interested in. It’s all about growing up, finding things that are interesting to you, even hobbies. Sounds like you have a hobby with doing puzzles.”

“I do like puzzles. Fitting the pieces together to make a beautiful scene is pleasing.” Hayden blushed slightly.

Ichirou nodded his head. “See, you have something you like. I’ll help you find more things that might interest you.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hayden smiled softly. “I’m Hayden, by the way.”

“Ichirou, nice to meet you, Hayden.” Ichirou held out his hand and the two shook hands.

* * *

The rest of lunchtime, Ichirou and Hayden stayed inside and talked some more, as Ichirou had to complete some more math. Ms. Brown said it was okay for them to both stay inside as long as Ichirou was doing his work. Hayden was amazed that Ichirou was quick with problem-solving. Ichirou just told him it was like life, you had to problem-solve every moment, so solving an easy math question was a breeze. Then the bell had rung and students came back into class and Ms. Brown continued with the day’s lesson. Hayden struggled to follow along, but the teacher explained that she would send work home for him to read over so he could follow along the following day.

Then the recess bell rang, Ichirou was just glad to get out of the classroom, but he waited for Hayden, who was talking to the teacher about stuff he would be taking home with him that he could read over. Hayden nodded his head and set everything on his desk before joining up with Ichirou. The two walked outside together, Ichirou was explaining the lesson to Hayden when Niko came running up to Ichirou. The colorful girly dressing boy smiled at Hayden and Ichirou.

“Guess what? Kojima isn’t at school today. He won’t be back at school for maybe the rest of the week. A lot of kids are trying to figure out what happened, though both Eliza and Lexi had to open their big mouths. I just thought I would tell you. No one has seen Ryan either. Only Toki is at school.” Niko pointed to the wall, where a lone boy with the orange hair was sitting against the wall. A nose bandage across his face. “No one has talked to him or asked him anything, but it’s strange to see that he came to school but not the other two.”

“Ryan isn’t coming back. He went to the other school.” Ichirou smirked. “This here is our new classmate, Hayden.”

“Oh, hello. Sorry for rambling on with Ichirou. I’m Niko.” Niko gave Hayden a big smile. “I won’t take up any more of your time, Ichirou. Bye!” And Niko ran off.

Hayden looks at Ichirou and back in the direction where Niko ran off. “I’m so confused. Was that a boy or a girl? Had the scent of a boy, but dressed like a girl.”

Ichirou put his arm around Hayden’s shoulders. The two were almost the same height, Ichirou was just a little taller. “You will meet a lot of people like Niko. He is a boy, but expresses and dresses like a girl, totally normal around this city. I’m guessing you didn’t get out much.”

Hayden shook his head. “No, I don’t. My mother wanted me to get into this school and even homeschooled me until a spot opened. I should have been placed in the second grade, but we got the call that first grade had an open spot. Mom didn’t want me to redo first grade again, but the principal said that a new boy had joined the class recently that was the same age as me, so it wouldn’t be awkward for me.” Hayden looked down at the ground and kicked a pebble. “Mom talked to dad about it, and they decided that it might be easier for me to redo the first grade so I knew what school was really about. Just the last lesson was new to me, so that’s why I was confused.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you are confused about anything, I’ll help you out. I know this recess thing is about running around and wasting your energy outside so you are calmed down for learning again, but if you don’t want to run around I’ll help you understand the lessons.” Ichirou smirked and Hayden nodded his head. The two of them had their awkward first beginnings in a new school and a new school setting, so Ichirou would help Hayden whenever he asked.

Just then a redhead boy with short hair and blue eyes came over towards Ichirou, followed by his twin brother with red hair, but longer looking with green eyes. Ichirou sat beside the redhead with long hair in class, he also wore bright colors with girly accessories as his twin sat behind him in class, wearing more dark tone clothing. They were followed by another, a boy with green hair and brown eyes, he sat behind Ichirou in class. For the time he had been to school, none of these kids actually talked to him, so why were they coming towards Ichirou?

“Hey, um, new kid.” The redhead boy spoke. “Is the rumor true?”

The girly twin elbowed him in the gut. “Sorry, my brother doesn’t know how to approach people.” He smiled at them. Ichirou noticed now that the twins were identical to each other, but the one with bright clothes did have a more feminine face. “Hi, I’m Darius. I am in your class.” He extended out his hand, Hayden was the one to shake hands with him, as Ichirou stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“Hey guys, I’m Leon.” The green-haired boy standing beside Darius said with a small wave of his hand. Ichirou noticed now that Leon had the scent of a human, where the twins had the scent of Vampires. “What Dameian wanted to ask you, is it true that you killed Kojima?”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. Just what were Eliza and Lexi telling everyone. “No, I didn’t kill him. I simply beat him up. Toki was lucky to just get a broken nose and Ryan, I’m not sure what I did to him, but Kojima was in worse shape than either of them.” Hayden took a step back away from Ichirou.

“Oh, wow. You must have caught them off guard.” Darius commented.

Dameian grinned with his fangs popping out from behind his lips. “No matter how you did it, you are like the big hero on the school ground now. No one is going to dare mess with you now.”

Ichirou shook his head. “What I did was teach them a lesson. When Kojima comes back and tries to bully another kid, I’m going to bully him. I don’t care if I get sent to the office.” He looked over his shoulder at Hayden. “If you were here last week, you’d know how big of a bully Kojima was.”

“Yeah, he picked on me and my brother just because my brother is a little fruity,” Dameian growled. “I would have taken him out, but we both ended up with detention for ganging up on Kojima when we didn’t even do a thing.”

“Yeah, Kojima got me detention after he knocked my books out of my hands and kicked them around the hallway. I yelled at him and got detention for throwing my books at Kojima.” Leon explained what happened to him.

Hayden looked fearful. Ichirou smirked at Hayden. “Don’t worry. I’m not scared of Kojima. If he even thinks about picking on you, I got your back.”

“This kid is really a bully? Why doesn’t he get into trouble?” Hayden asked so softly, he started to shake. Ichirou walked up to him and place an arm around him.

“His dad is the principal. He never gets into trouble because of that.” Dameian snarled and crossed his arms over his chest. “What I would like to do is pound Kojima into the ground.”

Darius shook his head and walked over to Hayden. “Stay by Ichirou’s side and he’ll protect you. He can take Kojima’s punches.”

Ichirou looked down. “I only took those punches because I thought I had an idea on how to get Kojima into trouble. Though, his father is manipulated by Kojima, like he’s under his spell. That’s why Kojima never gets into trouble.”

“You’ll protect me from him?” Hayden looked up at Ichirou, his blue eyes lined with tears.

“I’ll protect you if I am around. And if I’m not around and I hear about it, I’ll beat him up for you.” Ichirou smirked, and Hayden nodded his head with a soft smile. For the rest of the time they had outside, Dameian talked about fighting, and Leon and Darius rolled their eyes at Dameian’s over-excitement about fighting. Which Ichirou figured it out soon after Dameian was only talking about fighting video games.

The school bell rang again and inside all the students went. Class started as usual and then they were allowed playtime in the classroom. Dameian invited Ichirou to play with him with small action figures with Leon and the other boy in the class, Ryoji. Darius was talking with Hayden about the different books that Darius liked in the classroom and the three females in the classroom were sitting together talking and playing with a small little house set. Ichirou was glad now, glad he made friends and wasn’t seen as the outcast now. Though he missed his quiet time alone, he would have to seek that out at home from now on as everyone wanted to play with him.


	13. Chapter 13

The following day, when Ichirou got to school, he noticed Hayden sitting at his desk crying. Ichirou walked up to Hayden and asked what was wrong. Hayden brought out a plastic bag filled with torn pieces of what Ichirou figured out was his comic book. Hayden was sorry that his parents teared up his comic book, and understood if Ichirou didn’t want to be Hayden’s friend anymore. Ichirou told Hayden that the book wasn’t one of his favorites and it didn’t matter, he was still going to be Hayden’s friend. The book was rare to come by, but Ichirou didn’t care, it was a materialistic item.

Ichirou took the plastic bag home with him. If anything he would have fun putting the pieces together. That’s what he was doing at home, had the comic book cover in pieces and spread out. It was just like doing a puzzle, though without a picture of what the picture was going to be. Only memory for Ichirou was going to help him.

Mizuki walked through the door with Yuriel and Kazayuki following behind him. They rarely came back home together, but that just meant Kazayuki would be cooking supper tonight. Mizuki placed Yuriel on the floor and the 2-year-old toddler crawled away, heading towards his bedroom, probably.

“Oh, what do you got here?” He looked down at the work Ichirou was doing. “Isn’t that one of the comic books we picked up for you? Why would you tear it up, Ichirou?”

“I didn’t. I gave it to a friend to read, as he doesn’t read anything but Angel stuff. And his parents found him reading it in his bedroom and tore it up. I’m trying to put it back together. I know it’s a rare one, but if I can put it together then I can read it if I ever wanted to again. It’s not really a good read in the first place, but yeah.”

Mizuki gave Ichirou a sad face. Kazayuki came up to the table to see what Ichirou was doing. “He’s adopted.” He said before moving to the kitchen area.

“Now, that’s a rude thing to say about your son, Kazayuki.” Mizuki turned around to face Kazayuki.

“Not Ichirou. Ichirou’s friend, the new kid Ichirou met yesterday at school. He is adopted.” Kazayuki started getting things ready to start making supper.

“And how would you know this?” Mizuki crossed his arms over his chest. Ichirou stopped looking at the pieces and looked at his father.

“Yesterday, one of the girls at the office said she had to take her adopted son to school at lunchtime because he got accepted into the school, but she wasn’t pleased they were dropping him back a grade, just because she homeschooled him. Then Ichirou came home yesterday and talked about meeting a new kid. I put two and two together. This city is big but isn’t that big when it comes to children. She’s a bitch at work and for her and her husband to do that to Ichirou’s book, she must be a bitch at home too.”

“Kazayuki. Please watch your language.” Mizuki snapped back at him. “You should learn to keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

Kazayuki shook his head as he grinned. “Trust me, if you have seen her, you’d know who I am talking about exactly.”

“Are you talking about the one that works in the office on the upper floor? The one who demanded she have her own office when she got promoted?” Mizuki asked Kazayuki, who was nodding his head. “Oh, I am going to give her a piece of my mind. She shouldn’t destroy property that doesn’t belong to her.”

Ichirou growled, making Mizuki and Kazayuki both look at him. “How about we deal with her bullying attitude differently? I know she's an adult, but if you know of her, why not ask her if Hayden can spend the night this weekend here? That way Hayden has an escape from them. Or, if she won’t allow Hayden to come here, then ask if I can go there instead. The excuse is we have a few lessons that Hayden has missed and he wants to catch up with the class and I’m the smartest one in the class, who can help Hayden catch up.” He had to get their attention and once he had their attention, he was coming up with a plan in his head as he spoke. It was something easy. A sleepover. This way Ichirou could get Hayden out of the house, or Ichirou could go there and observe the home setting. “You know if Hayden is adopted, they still have workers come in the home to make sure the child is being well taken care of, just like with Eliza. If Hayden isn’t happy and the household isn’t a pleasant one, one call will have Hayden taken away.”

“Ichirou, you are talking about removing a child from a home that is well established. As long as the child is eating and dressed, and the house isn’t a complete wreck, they allow the child to be raised by the family.” Mizuki explained it out to Ichirou. “Children don’t have a choice of what family they are living with, so if the child is unhappy, they don’t care as long as all the requirements are met.”

Eliza came around the corner. “Why doesn’t Hayden just tell the worker he’s unhappy? They always ask me when they check to make sure I’m healthy.” Eliza knew what the workers asked and she had to be checked over by a doctor to make sure she was healthy and happy.

“Probably because the parents are in the room with him when the worker check him out,” Kazayuki said, as he started stirring veggies in a pot. “Remember when you got Eliza, Mizuki? You were asked if you wanted to be in the room when they checked her.”

“Yes, but I was a single male adopting a young girl. I said I didn’t want to be in the room, but Eliza wanted me in there the first few times, till she was comfortable. Then she went by herself. Why would the boy’s family want to be in the room as they asked him questions and check him out?” Then Mizuki understood his own words.

“Probably to keep him silent,” Ichirou told Mizuki. “Just ask, see if Hayden’s parents will allow a sleepover. I’ll talk to Hayden about it tomorrow, I’ll ask him questions and see what is true.”

“Ichirou, I understand you have a friend now, but sometimes you need to let everyone live their life the way it was intended to be lived, even if we disagree with it.” Mizuki faced Ichirou. “I’ll pick up another comic book tomorrow too. I know where I can get this issue.”

Ichirou nodded his head and let it be, cleaning up the pieces off the table. He just wanted his friend to be happy. Mizuki was right, he couldn’t be getting involved in something he couldn’t control.

* * *

It was found out the next day that Hayden rode the bus with Ichirou and Eliza. So they let Hayden sit with them on their way to school. Hayden was still apologizing to Ichirou about the comic book, till Ichirou told him Mizuki was picking him up that same issue today. That eased Hayden’s mind.

They got off the school bus and headed right inside as the bell rang. Ichirou noticed that they almost always got to the school right as the bell rang. Didn’t bother Ichirou much.

Once inside the classroom, their day began like any other day. Always the day began with math, then reading. Followed by recess, and afterward writing, and spelling. Lunchtime came before storytime, and lessons, with a recess to follow. Then the day finished with another lesson. Lessons were a mixture of things of stories, math, writing, sometimes even art.

First recess came and Ichirou walked outside with Hayden. “I have to ask you something.” It had been bothering him since last night. “Are you happy living with your adoptive parents?”

Hayden looked at Ichirou with shock. “H-how did you know I was adopted?” He had never told Ichirou about him being adopted. He grew up with his parents when he was just a baby, and knew they were different from him, till they told him he was adopted.

“I had a hunch.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. They were standing by the basketball hoop that no one was using at the moment. “Actually, my father figured it out. He knows your mom.”

“Oh, well, I guess I am happy at home. I don’t get to do a lot of things that other kids do, but I’m happy they accepted me into their lives.” Hayden gave Ichirou a fake smile. Ichirou knew it to be fake because he was forcing himself to smile like that.

“Could we have a sleepover?” Ichirou knew there was no way Hayden would leave, he had to accept that. Though, Ichirou still wanted to have a sleepover to give Hayden the childhood he wasn’t allowed to have.

“A sleepover?” Hayden asked and Ichirou nodded his head. “You mean like you come over to my house and sleepover?” Ichirou nodded his head again. “I don’t think so. Mom and dad are strict and you just being you, well they would approve of it. If they found out I was hanging out with you, they wouldn’t approve of it either. When I told them I got the comic book from a friend they ripped it up and said to not talk to you anymore, but you were the first kid to welcome me and I couldn’t just ignore you.”

“Guessing they wouldn’t want you coming over to my house either.” Ichirou sighed. He didn’t understand why Hayden was happy there.

“No.” Hayden hung his head down, before snapping it back up. “You aren’t going to not be my friend anymore, right? You still want to be friends, right?”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I’ll still be friends with you, just means we are school friends.” He gave Hayden a smirk, which brightens up the other’s face.

“Hey, Ichirou catch!” Dameian’s voice was heard and Ichirou turned around in time to catch the basketball. “Let’s play, Leon and me against you and Hayden.”

“Come on, Hayden. Let’s play.” Ichirou shoved Hayden towards Dameian and the four played basketball with Darius on the sidelines cheering them on.

* * *

That night, Ichirou was watching TV as Mizuki had made them supper earlier. A surprise dish with a mix of meat and cheese and beans. Ichirou ate what he could of the dish, but refused seconds. Now, he was just waiting for his father to come home. He was busy watched some documentary on animals in the wild when the door opened to his father coming in.

“Hey, father. How was work?” Ichirou looked over the couch at his father. Kazayuki gave him a smile before walking around the couch and joining him.

“Where’s Mizuki?” He asked and Ichirou pointed to the hallway. Kazayuki nodded his head. “Well, work was okay. Have a small deadline to finish up a single we’ve been working on. I know Mizuki wasn’t going to talk to Hayden’s mom today, so I did. I got the 360 on how bad of a parent I was and that Hayden wasn’t supposed to be talking to you anymore. Sorry kid.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I know. I talked to Hayden today and he said he was supposed to be ignoring me. Though I am his friend at school and we decided to just be that, school friends.”

“Yeah, I’m called the bad parent because I let you be a kid and read comic books.” Kazayuki snorted as Mizuki walked into the room.

“You are a bad parent. You didn’t even want to send Ichirou to school.” Mizuki folded his arms in front of him as he looked down at Kazayuki. “Though, you let him go to school and socialize and interact with other kids, so you get good parenting points. Though, I know Hayden’s mom was really giving it to you today. The whole office heard about it. ‘How dare you ask if our sons can have a sleepover!’ ‘Do you realize what you let your kid read is inappropriate for a child of seven years old?’ ‘You should take parenting lesson on how to raise your son, you are doing it wrong.’” Mizuki was imitating what Hayden’s mom sounded like today. Ichirou couldn’t help but laugh at Mizuki’s little act.

“Yeah, not to mention she was in charge of our next single being publish, she pushed the finishing date from next month to the end of this week.” Kazayuki sighed. He knew he and his band could do it in a short amount of time, but he also knew that meant late nights. Only tomorrow and Friday are left to finish.

“Do what you can, Kazayuki. If you want to head out and go to Junji’s and Kiyo’s place so you can keep those guys in line, then go. I can handle the kids.” Mizuki looked at Ichirou. “Well, Ichirou is on his own. I’ll wake him up for school but he’s the one that has to get him and Eliza on the bus.”

Ichirou smirked. He knew Mizuki was teasing him. He looked at his father and seen he wasn’t sure, but Ichirou nodded his head. Kazayuki leans over and kisses Ichirou on the head. “Okay, I’ll do that then. You never know what trouble those guys will make even if we have a deadline.” Kazayuki got up and walked into the master bedroom packing up a small bag of clothes. He grabbed his motorcycle keys, kissed Mizuki, and waved goodbye to Ichirou.

Mizuki sighed happily and turned around. “Alright, Ichirou. I got Yuriel to bed and Eliza is in bed sleeping. You’re next.”

Ichirou jumped off the couch and started walking with his back towards the hallway. “I’ll get myself ready for bed. I don’t need your help.” He knew Mizuki was joking, but he also knew it was bedtime, so he turned around and walked to his bedroom to get ready for bed.


	14. Chapter 14

That Friday it seemed everyone was in better spirits, on the playground at least. There was no sign of Kojima returning to school that week. Ichirou never knew how much of an impact Kojima had on the kids at school till he was absent from school. Kids would ask Ichirou if the rumors were true, and Ichirou always replied that he did what he had to, but didn’t kill. Eliza and Lexi had spread that rumor that Ichirou had killed Kojima.

Hayden has some news to share with Ichirou, saying his parents hoped he wasn’t hanging around with him because they knew who Ichirou’s father was and knew of the bad influence that Ichirou could bring on to Hayden. Ichirou told him his father is far from those rumors, though the rest of the bandmates could be blamed for those rumors. He even told Hayden that his father spent most of his time with Ichirou as a baby to keep that type of behavior from him. Hayden told Ichirou he didn’t care if they were true or not about his father because Ichirou wasn’t his father. Well, he wasn’t his father, but he was his father’s look alike.

The day progressed like any other day, Ichirou spent his time in class, focused on the work in front of him. He was sure that Leon tried to copy his spelling words as Ms. Brown gave them a spelling test, but Ichirou could hear Leon’s frustration. Ichirou’s handwriting was easy to read, but Leon was having trouble reading it. Ichirou smirked to himself and just continued with the test.

Then Lunchtime came and Ichirou and Hayden ate at Ichirou’s desk, as Dameian and Darius ate at Leon’s desk. The five boys talking about superheroes, and villains. Hayden wasn’t sure how to join the conversation, but Ichirou brought him a comic book to read during their lunchtime and they always based their topic of conversation with the comic so Hayden didn’t feel left out. Darius was included, but he wasn’t into superheroes or comic books. He’d rather read mangas with love stories, though Ichirou didn’t tease him about it, unlike his twin brother Dameian would.

After everyone in the class was finish their lunch, they were allowed to go outside. Outside the five boys decided on playing basketball, Dameian and Leon versus Ichirou and Hayden, Darius on the sideline to call fouls or cheer them on. Hayden may not have had experience in playing basketball at the beginning of the week, but with Ichirou as a teammate, he got pretty good at it, that he enjoyed playing.

They were so engrossed in their game, they hadn’t noticed the return of the school bully, till Darius shouted. “Ichirou, over there!” Ichirou paused the game and turned around. There he saw Kojima, who was walking with a slight limp, and Toki walking beside him. They were walking over to a bench that faced the play structure that kids were playing on. Sitting on the bench was a brown-haired and dark-eyed human girl from their class, Tayla, if Ichirou remembered correctly.

“Move, you’re on my bench,” Kojima told the girl.

“There’s plenty of bench to sit on.” Tayla pointed to the bench space beside her.

“I don’t want to sit there, so get off my bench.” Kojima crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the poor girl.

Tayla slid over on the bench, to the other side of the bench, giving Kojima space he clearly wanted. “There.”

“I said get off the bench. This is my bench, so get off.” Kojima walked over to her and raised his hand as if he was going to hit her.

Ichirou had stopped the game of basketball and seen Kojima shouting at the girl, Tayla before he stalked over towards Kojima. Ichirou made his way closer to them and it seemed the playground had become silent as he made his way over, only Kojima’s voice was heard. Then, Kojima raised his hand, and Ichirou grabbed his hand before he could hit the girl.

“Who dares touch me?” Kojima turned around to see who had grabbed his hand. Toki, his sidekick, had moved to stand behind the bench away from Ichirou and Kojima, covering his nose. When Kojima’s eyes landed on Ichirou, he took a step back, pulling his hand out of Ichirou’s grasp. “We’re at school, you can’t touch me.”

“So, that gives you a reason to slap a girl?” Ichirou stood there with his arms folded across his chest, not looking impressed. Tayla had gotten up from the bench and was standing behind Ichirou, at least a few feet behind him, but still using Ichirou as a shield.

“I can do whatever I like, you can’t stop me here. You might have gotten the jump on me before but not now. This is my domain.” Kojima took a step closer to Ichirou, with his bad leg. Ichirou wasn’t going to stand down. Though, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the male teacher walking towards them. He had a choice and he had to make it fast, push Kojima or stop the teacher. He chooses the latter.

Ichirou turned and walked towards the teacher, who grabbed his arm roughly. “You are coming with me. You as well, Ko-” The male teacher was talking and didn’t notice till Ichirou had punched him in the gut. The hand on his arm tightened. “You are going to the principal’s office now for punching a teacher.” He turned away, leaving all the kids on the playground to stare in shock at Ichirou’s action towards the teacher.

Feeling the grip on his arm tighten, he knew it was going to bruise, though Ichirou knew it would heal fast after the teacher let go. Know his special ability to heal and is a Vampire as well, Ichirou focused on slowly the healing process. He was taken to the office but wasn’t put in a chair, instead, he and the teacher walked into the principal’s office, where he was sat in a chair.

“What do I owe the pleasure of having you in my office, Ichirou?” The older man spoke from his office chair, as he turned to see Ichirou sitting there, with the male teacher standing there. The bruise from the male’s hand was dark red, as Ichirou tried to slow the healing process.

“Ichirou was about to stop Kojima from hitting a girl, but instead he turned himself on me.” The male teacher explained quite quickly before he realized what he was saying.

“Kojima was about to hit a girl?” The principal asked the male teacher, who was looking at him with wide eyes. The male teacher nodded his head. “How do you know Kojima was about to hit this girl?”

“Well, you see, sir. Kojima was telling a girl to move off a bench, and the girl wasn’t moving, but she moved to the other side of the bench so Kojima could sit down where she was. That didn’t please him so he walked over to the girl and almost hit her, till Ichirou here stopped him.”

The male teacher and principal were both looking at Ichirou. He raised his brows. “Kojima needs to stop. I’m not going to let Kojima keep picking on kids and hurting them.”

“How do you know Kojima is picking on other kids?” The principal was listening to Ichirou, which was surprising. Was it because there was another teacher in the room?

Ichirou smirked. “As I see it, how many kids have come to the principal’s office since Kojima has been absent? None. You might think be telling yourself that everyone has a thing against Kojima, but that’s not true. Kojima has been picking on kids since before I was even brought to this school. You must keep track of all the incidents that happen in this school, right? Every one of those incidents that involve Kojima was caused by Kojima.” The male teacher was standing there, nodding his head. “Though you only ever got Kojima’s side of the story, and he fed you some lie to make him look like the victim.”

“Is that what has been going on, principal? Have you been giving these boys and girls detention and suspending them because of what Kojima says? And here, I thought you were doing it to save the kids from having to face Kojima’s bad behavior. Kojima has been nothing but trouble since he came to this school because you are his father, he thinks he can get away with everything.” Now the male teacher was seeing the real reason behind the principal’s punishments.

“Ichirou, will you excuse us? I will overlook your punishment for hitting a teacher, as long as the teacher agrees. Though, I hope you do not repeat your actions in the future.” The older man stared hard at Ichirou, a warning in his eyes. The male teacher nodded his head and escorted Ichirou out of the office, closing the door behind him. Ichirou was looking kind of dazed and the secretary looked at Ichirou.

“Do you need an ice pack for your arm?” The secretary asked Ichirou. Ichirou looked down at his arm, closed his eyes, and ran his hand over his arm, making the bruise disappear.

“No, I’m good. Just a bit shocked by what happened.” Ichirou told him as he started heading out of the office. He heard the bell rang and knew he had to go to his classroom now. When he walked into his classroom, he saw the teacher in front of Tayla looking over her face. Tayla had a handprint on her face, a handprint that Ichirou could only guess that came from Kojima.

“Ichirou, Tayla got hit. After you and the teacher walked away, Kojima slapped Tayla for being friends with you and told everyone that if they were friends with a bully like you, he would beat them up.” Dameian rushed over to tell Ichirou the news.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Of course he would call me the bully.” Ichirou walked over to the teacher and Tayla. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

The teacher shook her head. “It’s not as bad as it looks, just a bruise.” She stood up and took Tayla’s hand. “I’m going to take Tayla to the nurses’ office and get her an ice pack. Hopefully, the bruise will go down before school is over.”

“It’s my fault. I took the teacher away from the playground. Let me…” Ichirou sighed. He didn’t want everyone to know what he could do, but he felt at fault for it. “Let me heal her.”

Everyone paused and looked at Ichirou. The teacher smiled sweetly at him. The smile still annoyed Ichirou. “Ichirou, you can’t heal Tayla. She’s a human, remember. I know I tell you all to treat everyone the same, but Tayla can’t drink blood like you can and you can’t turn your peers into Vampires.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I’m not talking about that. I can heal her, watch.” Ichirou walked up to Tayla, placed his hand over her bruise, and closed his eyes. It was only tissue damage, so it was an easy fix. It didn’t even use a lot of Tayla’s blood to heal, barely a few drops of blood was needed. Ichirou opened his eyes and took a step back. The class gasped and the teacher looked Tayla’s face over again.

“How- I mean, you actually healed it, Ichirou.” The teacher was in shock. “Though, on your profile, it says you don’t have any special ability, so when did you learn to heal?” Ms. Brown looked at Ichirou with disbelief.

“I’ve been able to do it for a while now. I’ve just been banned from doing it. I’m not supposed to do it at all, under any circumstances, but just this once. I’m the one who removed the teacher from the playground and caused Kojima to lash out. The power I have could seriously kill someone if the damage is too big. A bruise that big doesn’t use much blood. I’m sorry. Please don’t tell anyone about this. I know my father would be very angry with me for it.” Ichirou looked around the room at everyone there.

Ms. Brown nodded her head. “Understandable, Ichirou. No one is going to tell a soul about this, and I won’t put it in your profile. I’m supposed to report any changes, but we will all keep this a secret. As long as you do not do it again.” She sounded stern, but she had a smile on her face the whole time.

Ichirou nodded his head, and Dameian and Leon came up behind Ichirou and patted him on the back. “Dude, that was amazing. I wish I had something like that.” Dameian chuckled.

“I think it’s cool that you have a power that could help others, though lips are sealed.” Leon laughed as they all walked back to their desks and started class once again.

“Thank you, Ichirou. You were so brave to stop Kojima and even braver to punch a teacher.” Tayla whispered to Ichirou with her cheeks heating up. “Thank you.” She moved and took her seat in front of Hayden’s desk.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without any incident, and Kojima wasn’t outside for recess either. The fifth graders in his class said Kojima was pulled out of class by the principal. It left a lot of confusion in the kids. Ichirou knew why Kojima was pulled out of class but didn’t have any idea what would happen to him. Was his father going to suspend him? Was his father going to expel him from school?

It didn’t matter to Ichirou, he knew justice was being served finally. He took the bus home with Eliza and Hayden. Hayden got off the bus first, so it was Eliza, and Ichirou sitting on the bus was a few other kids, till their stop came up and they got off.

When they got to the top floor and opened the door to their condominium, Ichirou was surprised to find it unlocked. He opened the door slowly, telling Eliza to stay back as he peeked inside. He spotted Kazayuki and Mizuki at the kitchen island talking. He breathed a sigh of relief and both him and Ichirou walked inside.

“Mama, you’re home!” Eliza ran from the door to Mizuki and Mizuki picked up Eliza with ease. “School was fun today. I want to have a sleepover at Lexi’s house this weekend and see the new baby.”

Mizuki laughed lightly. “Yomi is coming here with the baby and kids. He needs a break, so Lexi and Niko will be spending the weekend here again.”

“Really? I have to clean my room.” Eliza struggled to get off of Mizuki’s lap to the floor. Once her feet touched the floor she took off as fast as she could. “Cleaning room! Do not disturb!”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. Great, he was going to have to share his bed again with Niko. Though, was it really that bad? He dropped his backpack by the door and walked over to the other two. “Ichirou, we got a phone call today.” Ichirou stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at his father. “The principal called today. He says you are the cause of his son’s wounds. He wasn’t calling as the principal but as a concerned parent.”

“Sorry, I didn’t think of the consequences. I’ll do whatever to make up for it.” Ichirou knew there could be a medical bill, if Kojima went to the hospital, meaning his father wanted Ichirou’s parents to pay for it.

“No need. He called to apologize for causing you such a bad first experience at school, both him and his son. Then he informed us both, Mizuki and I, that his son will be transferred to the other elementary school. He hopes you will be a respectful student and not cause any fights on the playground or with your peers.” Kazayuki smirked as he was telling Ichirou this.

“I do not need to fight. I will try not to fight with anyone.” Ichirou raised his hand and placed one over his heart.

“Good, Ichirou. Now, about hitting a teacher.” Mizuki started and Ichirou paled.

“I had to do something, something to get me off the playground before I hit Kojima and we both sent to the office. I decided if I was sent to the office without Kojima then I would get punished for actually doing something.” Ichirou tried to plead his case.

Mizuki laughed lightly. “We aren’t mad at you for hitting the teacher. That might have been the smartest move against Kojima at the time. Though, we have to make sure you won’t raise your fist to a teacher again. You made the teacher…” Mizuki trailed off into a laughing fit.

“He shit himself.” Kazayuki finished and joined Mizuki in a laughing fit.

Ichirou stared at them, blinked a few times before he got it. He smirked. “Alright, I won’t hit any more teacher either. I thought something smelled funny in the office.” He joined them in a laughing fit as Kazayuki got started on cooking up supper.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short summary of what Ichirou's classmates look like now, and will probably look like throughout the school years. Just style-wise, unless it does change in future chapters.

Ichirou is eleven, Eliza is nine, Yuriel is six…

Since first grade, the classmates Ichirou had started to become their own person at the young ages they were. There were a lot of experimentations with style and behavior, but in the four years they spent together, everyone seemed to find their style and rocked out their image.

The class had the bad boy looking punk Vampire, Ichirou, who wore any black t-shirt with skulls, crosses, grim reapers, or any band logo. He had fade ripped jeans to go with his t-shirts, and black converse shoes on his feet. He had a couple of leather wrist bands to go with the dark gothic cross around his neck. His hair black and naturally spiked, with his dark red eyes.

The human jock was Leon, of course. Wearing anything from football jerseys to basketball jerseys. His green hair had been shaven on the sides, leaving only green hair on top of his head. His usual brown eyes only grew darker when he was happy.

Dameian and Darius, the Vampire twins. Dameian had red hair styled to look like 90’s boyband blow cut and looked damn good with his blue eyes. He wore jeans, with a muscle shirt and a graphic button-up shirt that he left open. Darius had his red hair long and always had loose curls put up with hair accessories. He wore more skirts than pants, but even the pants he wore had lace along the side of the leg. He wore anything from a blouse to a tank top. He always wore makeup that made him more feminine looking with his green eyes.

Hayden, the shy Angel boy, who was the same age as Ichirou, and a year older than everyone else in the class. He had long blond hair, that he tied back with a white ribbon. He had the usual gentle blue eyes that most Angels had. He wore simple t-shirts light in color and either solid or striped with white strips and a light color. His pants were always light blue jeans.

The nerdiest looking one was the Vampire Ryoji. Black shaggy hair with piercing blue eyes that seemed to speak stories of a dark past than he allowed others to know about him. He always dressed for school in a white button-up short sleeve shirt. Every day was a different tie with brown slacks. His style rarely changed since first grade and made others wonder if he owned any other clothes.

There were only three girls in the class, one of them was Tayla, a human girl with long brown hair and simmering brown eyes. She was the makeup queen of the class, always advising Darius and the other girls on how they should wear their makeup from a ten-year-old’s point of view.

Her Vampire friend, Paige was a bit of a toyboy. Just like Leon, Paige wore jerseys but not every day like him. Only on game days. Other days she wore tight shirts or tank tops to school and mainly jean short shorts. When it was cooler out, her jean short shorts turn into athletic sweats. She didn’t wear makeup as her green eyes magically popped with his soft pink hair that was always tied up in a ponytail on top of her head.

The last human and girl in the class was Cadance. She was a fashion queen, clothes needed to match and coordinate well together. She was blond and acted like a scatterbrained person if it had nothing to do with fashion. Her green eyes made you want to look at her and see the world from her point of view, but that was impossible unless you were ditzy like her.

This was Ichirou’s fifth-grade class. Every student had their good moments and their bad ones too.

* * *

Sitting on the bus, heading to school, Ichirou was sitting at the back of the bus with his blond-haired and blue-eyed friend, Hayden. Hayden was telling Ichirou about his weekend. Ichirou was paying attention but it was always the same. Hayden’s parents didn’t want Ichirou to be his friend no matter what, but that didn’t stop them from being friends at school. Though, over the course of the school years, Hayden made a friend in Ryoji, another Vampire in their class, who had shaggy black hair and piercing blue eyes. Ryoji dressed finer than the rest of the class. With his finer clothing, dressed up for success no one was sure if Ryoji actually owned any other clothes because it was the same outfit every day.

Though, Hayden might know. Hayden was in the middle of telling him about his weekend, another sleepover with Ryoji. They seemed to have a sleepover every other weekend, always at Hayden’s house. Hayden’s parents liked that Hayden made a friend in Ryoji, Ryoji’s parents were high-class citizens with no attachment to the entertainment industry.

Ichirou smirked at Hayden, telling him about how he and Ryoji slipped out of the house one night to play at the park. His father caught them coming back from the park and told the boys it was dangerous to be playing outside after hours and next time they decided to do that, they would have to write verses. Ichirou wanted to tell Hayden that Ryoji was a bad influence on him, but it was nice that Hayden was having a childhood and hanging out with other kids.

Ichirou didn’t get along with Ryoji, somehow Ryoji thought Ichirou was full of himself and always tried to stop Ichirou from talking to Hayden. Though, Hayden and Ichirou still talked, mainly on the school bus. Hayden told Ichirou he would never let their friendship die out as Ichirou was his first friend ever.

When they got off the bus and to the classroom, Hayden walked away to talk with Ryoji, Ichirou went to what was his locker and stuffed his backpack inside before he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around and looked down. Yes, looked down. Ichirou was the tallest kid in their class except Hayden was only an inch or two shorter than Ichirou. The next kid was Leon, standing just at Ichirou’s chin, and that’s who he was looking at.

“Hey man, did you see the game last night?” Leon with his green hair had a grin on his face that made his brown eyes looker darker than usual. Wearing a jersey of another football team, Leon was a real jock like character.

“You mean the one where men in tight pants run after an egg shape ball, throwing it and catching it or the one with the really tall guys passing around an oversized orange?” Ichirou smirked at Leon, as the other gave him a nudge on the shoulder.

“The orange one, silly.” Leon laughed lightly at Ichirou’s joke. Leon knew Ichirou wasn’t into sports, but he also knew his family did watch games since Ichirou had invited him over for a big game party to watch one of the biggest games of the season. “Did you see that foul that shouldn’t have been called?”

“Yeah, I saw it and heard it.” Ichirou wiggled a finger in his ear. He heard Eliza screaming at the TV beside him.

“Man, what was the ref thinking? I was sure he was going to get it when the coach got in his face.” Leon laughed. “So, when do you think I could come over again and watch the game with you and your family? You are so secretive about letting us come over.”

Leon was right. Ichirou only invited his friends over when there was some kind of party going on. Ichirou was smart and knew if it was just him at home when the party was going on, drugs somehow appeared on the coffee table or kitchen counter. Though Kazayuki tried to clean them up and tell everyone they couldn’t do that. He was trying to keep Ichirou away from them and Mizuki. Kazayuki didn’t want Mizuki to get back into the drug scene, even if Mizuki told Kazayuki he wouldn’t touch them again. It was Ichirou’s plan to invite his friends and that somehow made the drugs disappear, though Ichirou wasn’t stupid, they were there just done in secret now.

“Soon, when another party comes up,” Ichirou smirked. He didn’t tell his friends about the drugs, just so they didn’t tell their parents. He saw their redhead friend, Dameian, walking over to them. He had blue eyes and a bowl cut hairstyle as if he was trying to go for the 90’s boyband hairstyle. It suited him, made him look hot, but Ichirou didn’t tell him that. He was only shorter than Leon by a bit.

“What’s this about a party? Another party at Ichirou’s?” Dameian gave a cheeky grin, flashing his fangs. He was a Vampire and didn’t hide that fact when he smiled. “I like Ichirou’s game parties. Darius doesn’t, so he is staying home next time.”

“Well, I don’t know when the next one is, but I’ll tell you guys.” Ichirou shook his head at Dameian’s excitement over a party. He was the party animal of the group, he got into the beer last time, which Ichirou found out later that Kiyo had given Dameian the beer. Kiyo and Dameian were the goofy party animals at the party. Mizuki had yelled at Kiyo for giving Dameian beer, but lucky, Dameian was spending the night so Mizuki could get Dameian cleaned up the next day before sending him home.

“So, what are you planning to do for the project that Mr. Tenticles is making us do?” Dameian asked the two boys. Dameian only called their teacher Mr. Tenticles because their teacher had dreadlocks. Their teacher explained it was part of the culture where he came from. Though, his name was Mr. Wothers.

“The project is about our family, that should be easy for you and Darius, you two just copy each other's work.” Leon patted Dameian on the shoulder.

“It’s not that easy. Darius wants to do his own thing. Probably going to put glitter all over the place.” Dameian expressed his hate of glitter by rolling his eyes.

“Well, at least you guys have a family project that goes back. Most of us only have our immediate family to fall back on.” Ichirou reminded the two that not everyone had a long line of family history. Though, this project was for the fifth graders to research and figure out how far their lineage went, at least that's what the whole class thought.

“What information did you gather on your father?” Leon asked he was curious.

“My father is older than dirt, and he spent time in a castle. Then he told me he moved around as the world changed to the modern times and he was apart of a few bands in the past, but never found the right music until rock and roll became famous and he got into it with one band, then he broke off to start the band he’s in now. That’s all I got out of him.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders.

“What of your mother? Don’t you have anything to go back on with that?” Dameian asked, and he received a slap upside the head from Leon.

“Mizuki isn’t Ichirou’s real mother. He’s Ichirou’s stepmother.” Leon told Dameian with a serious look on his face at him. Dameian was rubbing the back of his head where Leon slapped.

“My mother was a human, she was a drug addict and died of an overdose. The only reason I am a Vampire because I was the one and millionth chance of my father producing an exact duplicate of himself with another. Even though another was used to create me, I am 100% DNA match with my father, no other DNA runs in my body.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s why you and your father look so much alike?” Dameian laughed lightly. “I wish I looked like my mother, he’s cooler looking. Me and Darius look more like our father than mother, except the hair and eye color.”

The teacher opened the door. “Alright students, get to your seats.” Mr. Wothers spoke out in a deep booming voice. He made his way to the front of the class. Their desks may have changed with their heights but they still sat in the same order they had since first grade. “Does anyone want to present their family portfolio today? You don’t get extra marks for an early presentation but you will lose marks if you are late.”

No one put up their hand or wanted to go, mainly because everyone kind of waited till the last moment to start it. They had two months to get this done and this was their final week. Ryoji cleared his throat. “Ichirou should just present what he has, he’s not going to get everything out of his father.”

Ichirou turned his head to glare at Ryoji. “And what would know about my father that I don’t know already?”

Ryoji shrugged his shoulders and looked away from Ichirou. Mr. Wothers shook his head. “Now, class, you are all peers. We shouldn’t be butting heads. You have grown up with each other, there is no need to be rude.” This was Mr. Wothers’ first year teaching at this school, and he knew from the information about this school everyone had been in the same class since first grade so he wasn’t wrong. “Since no one will present, I hope you will all be done by Friday, though I will still ask at the beginning of the day till then.”

Mr. Wothers walked up to the chalkboard and started writing out the subject he was going to teach for that morning and everyone took out the books for that subject. He always surprised them, never stuck to the same subject every day. One day they would do math, next it was science. Or they would have two days of social studies, then a day of language arts. It was never the same.

* * *

After the day of school, Ichirou got on the bus before anyone else with Hayden. “You know what Ryoji said to me today?” Hayden sat down beside Ichirou who had his foot up on the seat. “He said anything you say about your family will be wrong, like your father’s past or something.”

“Oh, what would Ryoji know about my father’s past?” Ichirou asked, not caring. He knew his father’s past, as much as his father would tell him anyway. So, he didn’t think there were any big secrets.

“Well, what if you had an older brother?” Hayden asked Ichirou, looking at him with seriousness. “Ryoji says one of the kids that used to live with him looks similar to you. Even said that kid knew your father was his father, but his mother told him to keep that information to himself. The kid was taken back by his mother and lives on the mainland again. I guess his mother was in bad shape when she put her son in foster care, but she got her son back.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Never heard of that. The mother probably used my father as an excuse for her son to not ask about his father. It wouldn’t take much to shut a kid up if you told them their father was famous and that’s why he wasn’t around.”

“I never thought of it that.” Hayden blinked his blue eyes and then smile. “Well, guess Ryoji is full of it then. Believing a kid would say that his father is famous, but they didn’t know about each other.”

Ichirou nodded his head and listen Hayden talk about his family project, since he didn’t know his real parents, he was using the family line of his human parents. Ichirou wasn’t interested in listening about the human family that Hayden was so proud of, the same human parents that kept them from being friends.

Hayden’s stop was before Ichirou’s so Ichirou got to relax till his stop came, stretching out over two seats. The idea of his father not knowing about fathering another child came back to his mind. Could it be true? His father didn’t know about him till he was handed off to him, so it could be possible.

When the stopped came Ichirou made his way to the front, Eliza got out of her seat, the nine-year-old was wearing jeans with her tucked into her pants. She smiled at Ichirou. In front of them was a girly dressing boy, though, for a six-year-old, Yuriel looked more like a girl than a boy. The only thing that made him a boy was his flat chest and the penis between his legs. Though, who could tell unless you asked.

The three of them got off the bus, they were the only ones to get off on this stop now, as other kids either were in high school or went to the other elementary school. That didn’t bother them. Just meant they were the first picked up now, and the last dropped off. They headed up the elevator to the condominium on the top floor and Ichirou unlocked the door for them.

“How was your day at school, Ichirou?” Yuriel asked as Ichirou moved to the kitchen area to pull out a blood package. He still drank more blood than usual, but no one stopped him.

“Alright, I guess. How was your day with Ms. Brown?” Ichirou knew that as a first grader all the kids had Ms. Brown as a first-grade teacher.

“Stressful.” Yuriel came and sat at the kitchen island on a stool that was there. “I wanted to read the pony book, but once again, one of the girls beat me to it and said boys don’t read girly books. I sometimes wish I would be classified as a girl, then I could have friends and not be told I can’t do something because I am a boy.”

“Yuriel, that’s not our choice. That’s your choice. You are the one with the two genders.” Ichirou sighed and leans against the kitchen island. “Eliza and I found it easier growing up, calling you our brother, till you were old enough.”

“But I like being your guys' brother. I like that you treat me like a boy and we play video games, and I like that Eliza likes to have fashion shows with me with our clothes. It’s just I want others to accept me as me, without knowing my secret.” Yuriel placed his head down on the top of the island. “Why can’t I have it both ways?”

“You have to wait, I mean. I don’t know but you know Darius?” Ichirou asked Yuriel, which Yuriel nodded his head. “He didn’t start dressing up in full girl clothes till the third grade and I know for a fact he is 100% boy. He had to get others to accept him slowly, he didn’t just show up to school the first-day wearing frilly dresses.”

“Well, I don’t like wearing boy clothes, they feel too loose on me, Ichirou. I’m built smaller than even the boys in my class.” Yuriel pouted. “Do I have to wait for everyone to accept me?”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “I guess you have to wait for everyone to mature. You only have six more years of elementary school than you go to highschool. People accept people’s differences there. Look at Niko, second year, and already is the center of attention because he doesn’t hold back who he is. Girly clothes and all. Maybe, you should give Niko a call to hang out with you this weekend. I know he’s fourteen, but I think he would like to cheer you up.”

Yuriel smiled. “I think you are right. I’ll see what he is up to this weekend on the computer, we IM each other sometimes.” Yuriel got off the stool and ran down the hallway. “Hi, Eliza.”

Eliza, who was standing in the hallway, was listening to their conversation. Though, now that Yuriel spotted her, she walked into the kitchen. “Hi, Ichirou. Did you have a good day at school?”

“Eliza, you should stop eavesdropping on other people, Gossip Queen.”Ichirou chuckled as he threw his empty blood package in the trash and looked at her with his arms over his chest.

“Well, I heard you two having a brotherly conversation and didn’t want to interrupt.” Eliza reached up to grab a snack for herself to have.

“Right. You know it would help if you put your input in as well.” Ichirou frowned. “I don’t know how girls think.”

“Maybe, you should know. You know Niko and Darius, the two youngest crossdressers. So you have more knowledge then I do about being a crossdresser.” Eliza said, eating her snack in front of Ichirou.

“Okay, we all know Niko personally. I only know Darius from school and the few times I invited him here with his brother. Though, I don’t think I ever talked to Darius without talking to Dameian as well. So I don’t know Darius personally.” Ichirou realized this, he talked to Leon or Dameian alone before, but any time he talked to Darius, Dameian was around, so he didn’t know him personally, yet they still called each other friends. Well, they were friends, but not best friends like he was with Leon and Dameian.

“And who’s fault is that?” Eliza raises a brow at him. “Anyways, what you told Yuriel is probably the same thing I would have told him. Though, I would have told him to just accept one gender. We accepted him as a brother because that was the most gender-neutral thing to call him at the time. He had to figure it out for himself. Now, he is confused, because mama dressed him like a girl more than a boy.”

Ichirou shook his head. “You can't blame us or Mizuki, Yuriel will figure it out eventually. He just needs to realize some people need to mature to understand what the world is like.” He walked away from the kitchen and went to his bedroom, where he would play video games till Mizuki or Kazayuki came home.

* * *

That night, after Eliza and Yuriel were put to bed, Ichirou couldn’t forget about what Hayden told him on the bus. Mizuki and Kazayuki were sitting in the living room, making out on the couch. Ichirou cleared his throat and both adults pulled apart and looked towards him. He smirked.

“Ichirou, it’s bedtime. You should be in bed.” Mizuki said, moving away from Kazayuki like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Though the smell in the air gave Ichirou an idea of what was going on, it was funnily affecting him.

“I have to ask my father a question.” Ichirou didn’t move from where he was till his father had fixed himself in his pants. That was noticeable as he struggled for a second and threw a blanket over himself and Mizuki.

“What is it, Ichirou?” Kazayuki gestured to Ichirou to sit in the armchair in front of the couch. Ichirou took this as a sign it was alright to move. This wouldn’t be the first time he caught them in an awkward position. Though, they were always just making out, so Ichirou never saw anymore then he needed to see.

“What’s the chance that you might have another kid? I mean, one that is older than me?” Ichirou leaned forwards with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands together.

“Um, I’m pretty sure that isn’t possible.” Kazayuki chuckled, nervously. “I’m sure if I fathered another kid, I would know about it by now. What made you think of this?”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders and looked at the floor. “Hayden says Ryoji knows of your other son. Ryoji’s parents are foster parents. I don’t think it’s true, but Ryoji says that there was a boy in his home who could pass as my brother. He only says this because the boy was told by his mother that you were his father. He’s no longer living with Ryoji’s family, as his mother took him back to the mainland.” He looked up at Kazayuki and Mizuki. “I think it’s just another excuse, telling the boy that you were his father because you were famous and were never around.”

Mizuki sighed. “I think Ichirou’s right. The mother was probably single and the boy asked a lot of questions, so the mother used you as an excuse.” He placed a hand on Kazayuki’s shoulder.

Kazayuki was quiet, he had his elbows on his knees and his face in hands. Ichirou was wondering what his father was thinking, could it be true? Or was it just a lie? Ichirou wanted to know. “I have no idea. I didn’t even know I fathered Ichirou till he was handed to me. It is a possibility. I can’t deny I might have fathered more children, I slept around a lot, and even though I used condoms they aren’t going to prevent pregnancy. Ichirou is a prime example of that, though who knows how messed up Ichirou’s mother was, she collected my hair.”

“Did you sleep with any crazed fans who would want a child from you?” Mizuki asked, knowing there were a lot of girls that would throw themselves at him and his band. Probably the same for Kazayuki and his band.

Kazayuki shrugged his shoulders. “I know I slept with more whores then I can count. I rather pay than sleep with a groupie, at least whores were tested more than groupies.”

“I don’t think you should be telling your son you bought sex.” Mizuki started playing with his lip piercing with his tongue.

“I don’t care what my father did, I just wanted to know if he knew of having another son. I’m off to bed as there really isn’t an answer.” Ichirou and started walking away.

“Ichirou, this all has to do with that project, doesn’t it?” Kazayuki turned around to face Ichirou as he sat on the couch. Ichirou nodded his head. “I’m sorry I can’t help you out, but don’t think too hard on it. You, Eliza, and Yuriel are my children now.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Alright, goodnight. And take whatever you are going to do into the bedroom, so we don’t have another awkward moment.” Ichirou chuckled lightly as he walked off to his bedroom. He had to accept his father’s answer. He didn’t have any other children than the three of them. Ichirou decided he would give his presentation tomorrow and be done with it.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May contain triggers.

Ichirou stood in the front of the class, paper in hand. He knew he chose this, decided to just tell his family history, but why was he nervous? He could feel all their eyes on him, especially Ryoji’s eyes. Ryoji was grinning, like he already knew what Ichirou was going to say, and knew that was written on the paper wasn’t true.

Huffing out a breath, Ichirou didn’t even look at the paper now. “You want to know my family history? Well, here it is. My father grew up in a castle and lived in that castle for most of his life. He only left the castle at night to feed when he was hungry. He spent a lot of his time locked up in that castle until one day he left. He left and traveled the world, finding his muse in music. He was entertained by the idea of music, but the type of music never seemed to catch his full attention. My father was party goer for most of his nightlife. Then he found his true muse in rock and roll. Loving the sound the bass sounded when played against a guitar. He picked himself a bass guitar and learned to play from sound alone. Then he managed to be picked up by a band looking for a bassist and he started his career in rock and roll. Because of his young looks, he lied about his age a lot. Then after his band disbanded due to differences in careers, my father started his own band and toured with them, even though there was a change in guitarist, he still enjoyed playing with his band. That’s when he met Mizuki and my sister, Eliza. They moved in together and produced my brother, Yuriel. That’s my family history.”

Mr. Wothers was sitting at his desk and marking Ichirou on his presentation. “Very good, Ichirou. Though, there are missing key elements. Such as how you came into this world. Still, it was clear and it didn’t jump around all over the place, but it was solely focused on one person, not you. You could have added dates to clarify everything as well, like a timeline.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. He had no reason to add any additional information, sure he wasn’t going to tell the teacher this was his rough copy of his presentation. He never bothered to do what was expected of him and he knew what was expected of him. He walked over to the teacher and handed him the paper with his presentation written on it.

“I’ll give you a C+, that’s all I can do for your presentation.” Mr. Wothers looked at Ichirou with his chocolate eyes. “I hope the next project I give you will have more effort in it.”

“As long as you stay away from my family’s past and my past, I’ll ace anything you give me,” Ichirou smirked at him.

“Understandable, Ichirou. You may return to your desk.” Mr. Wothers pointed to Ichirou’s deck and Ichirou walked back to his desk and sat down.

“You forgot a lot of information in your history. I’m surprised you even passed.” Ryoji was heard whispering from behind Ichirou, Ichirou caught his words and even Hayden did as Hayden who was sitting next to Ichirou turned around.

“You should learn to keep things to yourself. Not everyone is going to tell everything that happened in their life.” Hayden whispered back to Ryoji.

“Mr. Wothers, may I go next?” Ryoji raised his hand and Mr. Wother nodded his head. Ryoji got up out of his desk and walked to his locker and pulled out a folded up board, which Mr. Wothers helped set it up against the blackboard.

“This is my family history. It all starts when my mother was born a human…” Ryoji went through his timeline with a smile on his face, pointing out the dates and events that happened during those dates. First, it was the birth of his mother, then his mother becoming a teenager and turned by a man, who was his father. He was very graphic about it too. He said his mother was at a party one night and was walking home alone when she was raped by a man, who then fed on her. The man turned her into a Vampire, after realizing she was a virgin and took her back to his place and kept her in the basement. Then he went farther along and explained the birth of his older sister, and the miscarriages she had during the time she lived in the basement.

Ichirou didn’t care enough to be affected by the story Ryoji was going into. The girls, on the other hand, were a bit creeped out and even Hayden had to cover his poor ears. By the third miscarriage his mother experienced, Mr. Wothers stood up. “Thank you, Ryoji. It seems you have quite a graphic history. May we continue this at recess, or if you like you can just hand in the presentation papers you have to give.”

Ryoji frowned. “No, Mr. Wothers. I will just hand you what I got.” He wanted to present it to the class, especially the part that would make Ichirou embarrassed, but if he wasn’t going to get that chance he would hand it in as is. At least, Ichirou figured that was why he sounded so upset about being stopped.

“Now, anyone else wants to go?” No one else put their hand up, it was clear after Ryoji’s presentation, everyone wanted to go back home and fix their presentations. Ichirou’s was a complete failure, but Ryoji’s was the example everyone wanted to follow, except the graphic details.

After Mr. Wothers started the lesson plan for the day, everyone slowly calmed down from the fear of Ryoji’s family history. Hayden was the most scared, he had asked Mr. Wothers to go to the washroom two times already in the morning before recess. Ichirou could see that Hayden was crying, just from the scent of salty tears alone.

When the recess bell rang, Hayden didn’t get up. Ryoji even left the classroom without him. Ichirou was about to step out but stopped seeing Hayden sitting there. He walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Hayden?”

“I-I… I know his father and mother, both are lovely people… They foster children now.” Hayden looked up at Ichirou. “How can someone do that? How can one man do that to a young girl?”

Ichirou signed. “Judging by the dates, that was years ago. Back then, rules were different, and with time, people change. I’m not going to tell you it wasn’t that bad, but what can you expect? As time changes we learn from the past and grow with it. Of course, some people never escape the past and stay there. Clearly, Ryoji’s family learned from the past and changed from it. We will never know how.”

Mr. Wothers cleared his throat. “Reading Ryoji’s presentation, after the third miscarriage, a boy was born. The firstborn child, Ryoji’s sister dies at four. With having a son, Ryoji’s father let Ryoji’s mother out of the basement. She was bound to the home before she gave birth a third time to another daughter and in captions here, Ryoji is going to tell Ichirou to pay attention to the third daughter.”

Ichirou looked over at Mr. Wothers. “Why would I have to pay attention to the third daughter?” This even piqued Hayden’s curiosity. Ichirou walked over and Hayden followed him. They both stood there, wanting to know more.

“Well, I shouldn't be reading you guys this, but seeing as it was going to be read out anyways by Ryoji, I’ll continue the story. If you are okay with it, Hayden?” Mr. Wothers looked over at Hayden, and Hayden grabbed Ichirou’s hand and nodded his head. Hayden just needed security, the security that Ichirou would gladly give his friend.

“It goes on that there were more miscarriages after the third daughter. Then the death of their son at age of five. Ryoji’s father used his daughter when she was a teen to birth a son, as she was the only living blood that survived her younger years. With a living son, he let his daughter go and Ryoji’s parents raised the son as their own. Though, death became of that child at four. Ryoji’s father gave up trying to produce an heir to his fortune. Ryoji’s mother and father learned to live on the mainland and become civilized members of the community. Throwing banquets and parties for the rich and famous. Then they heard of this island, and they decided they would try once again when they moved here to produce a son, who is Ryoji. During Ryoji’s toddler years, their daughter found them and she was in rough shape. She had a son that was three years older than Ryoji, he was six years old. Another caption here for Ichirou, this is the son your father produced. Ryoji’s father was proud to have an heir, both in Ryoji and the child his daughter produced. Though, when Ryoji turned six, the daughter came and took her son back. Then goes on to say that his parents helped out other children, opening their home to foster at least three other children to give them a chance.”

Ichirou heard it all, Hayden was in tears, and Mr. Wothers was marking a B on the paper, giving Ryoji his mark. He didn’t read the graphic details to them, as the paper had more words on it then Mr. Wother told them, but there was no need for him to get into details.

“It’s in the past.” Ichirou finally spoke after coming to the conclusion. “It doesn’t mean that Ryoji’s sister had my father’s child. Like I say, she could have used my father as an excuse, say that my father fathered her son to shut him up from asking so many questions.”

Mr. Wothers looked at Ichirou with a curious look. “Is this why you decided to give me your presentation that way you had? Was it because Ryoji was holding this information above your head?”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Ryoji kept telling me I don’t know my family’s history, that my father was hiding the fact that he had another son. Though, my father doesn’t know about having another child.”

“Remember, Ryoji said that only the mother and the boy knew who the father was, and even warned her son to never search out his father.” Hayden reminded Ichrou of that detail.

“Well, as I see it, Ichirou. Whether your father knows or not, that information doesn’t have to be shared. What I wanted was for the class, now listen Hayden, was to do a timeline of their family history from the time they were born up to now. I don’t want your parent’s history, I want your history when you became apart of a family.” Mr. Wothers pulled out the guidelines they were supposed to follow. “Right here, it says start your timeline when you were born. If the whole class misses that, they will get no higher than a B, depending on how well they get into the events of the lives before their life starts. I expect you to get an A, Hayden.”

Hayden nodded head. “Understand, sir. Boy, that makes this project so much simpler for me.” Seemed Hayden was relieved by this new information that the whole class seemed to miss.

“Now, you two might as well return to your desks. The bell is about to ring.” Mr. Wothers shooed Ichirou and Hayden away. “Ichirou, leave it in the past. It’s clear you believe in moving forward instead of living in the past, so follow your advice.” Ichirou smirked and nodded his head. That’s exactly what he would do.

* * *

The evening at supper, Ichirou ate quietly, he had been awfully quiet since he got home from school. Mizuki and Kazayuki had made eye contact with each other and figured they might know what’s up with Ichirou. Kazayuki nodded his head.

“Eliza, can you take Yuriel and go play in your bedroom for a moment, Kazayuki, and I would like to talk to Ichirou,” Mizuki told the young girl and she grabbed Yuriel’s hand and they walked away.

Once the door closed, Kazayuki started. “Ichirou about last night-”

Ichirou dropped his fork, as he was only picking at his food. “Don’t tell me you are going to try and give me the sex talk again.” Ichirou slumped back in his chair. “I know what it is between a man and another man. I’ve been there before, remember?” He was indicating to his father about the time he was raped when he was only six. “I know it's different when you love someone and not just doing it for pleasure. You two clearly love each other that you would be willing to fuck on the couch if you didn’t have kids.”

“Ichirou, watch your language,” Mizuki spoke up. “We just want you to not be uncomfortable with it.”

“I’m not uncomfortable with it. Sure, it’s uncomfortable when the scent of arousal affects your body strangely and it’s your father and his lover that does it to you, but I’m not uncomfortable with the idea of sex.” Ichirou explained to them, rolling his eyes at the last part.

“You can smell it?” Kazayuki asked

“Yes, I smell a lot of things. Don’t you guys?” Ichirou asked them back, but Mizuki and Kazayuki shook their heads. “I thought the sense of smell came with being a Vampire?”

“It does, but we don’t smell things easily unless we want to,” Mizuki explained. “Could it be that Ichirou drinks more blood than usual that it heightens his smell?”

Kazayuki shrugged. “That’s my only guess. Though, we are getting off-topic here.”

“No, we are not going back to that topic. I’m only 11 years old, I would like to keep as much of my innocence as I can. If anything, I’ll learn about it next year in Sex Ed.” Ichirou couldn’t express how much he didn’t want to have this conversation. “I’ll learn about it in school, but I know it’s not just the actions that are involved, but feelings are too. They don’t teach about the feelings of what could happen before, during, and after sex. I’ve experienced the scare, the fright, and the fear, as well as pain of it all. Though, you guys do it because you love and care for each other. Damn it, I’m done with this topic!”

Mizuki coughed and Kazayuki looked away, far away in the room, as if he was looking in a different dimension. They always tried to avoid bringing up Ichirou’s past, but they tried to have a calm conversation about what sex means, but even then Ichirou brought up the past and would anger himself about it.

“Ichirou, why are you so quiet today?” Mizuki asked though Ichirou wasn’t exactly quiet now.

“I was thinking something over in my head. Though, it doesn’t matter.” Ichirou sighed. “I think I know something, but Ryoji is telling the story, so who knows if it is true or not.”

“If this is about the child I fathered but don’t know about it, I don’t care to hear about it,” Kazayuki growled lowly in his throat.

“But listen.” Ichirou pleaded with his father, who sighed and kept his mouth shut. “Ryoji’s parents have a daughter, that is way older than Ryoji, so it is possible. I mean, what Ryoji explained in his family history that after she had given birth to a child fathered by their father, she was kicked out of their home. It seemed any child that mother and father had always died young never making it to their sixth birthday, except her. Then she was living on the streets, probably ended up a prostitute just like my mother to make money. Then she had a child and brought them here to give the child to her father because it was a boy. Ryoji’s father wanted an heir to his fortunes. Though Ryoji was just a small child at the time, and this boy would have been two years older than me. Ryoji survived the age of six, so the mother came back for her son and took him back with her to the mainland.”

Mizuki looked at Kazayuki, the same as Ichirou. They were trying to figure out if this information brought anything, any memory to Kazayuki. Though, Kazayuki sighed. “I’ve got no memory of it. I must have been hitting it hard then.”

“Hitting what?” Ichirou asked without thinking first.

“Um, drugs.” Kazayuki wasn’t going to lie to Ichirou. “I used to do drugs back before, back before I met your mother. Judging by the timeline that you gave me, it was before I decided to quit and clean up my act. I did something stupid.” Kazayuki ran a hand through his hair. “I need a smoke.” He got up from the table and walked to the patio doors and grabbed a smoke pack and a lighter, before going outside.

“I’ll go see what Yuriel and Eliza are up to.” Ichirou got up from the dining table, as Mizuki went about cleaning up the dishes from supper. He walked down the hallway and realized Eliza and Yuriel were in Eliza’s room so when to Yuriel’s room.

“So, should I wear this skirt or this one?” Eliza was asked Yuriel. Yuriel pointed to a tight blue jean on. “Okay, and what shirt should I wear?”

“You guys doing another fashion show?” Ichirou asked as he stood in the doorway.

“No,” Yuriel laughed. “Eliza is trying to find something to wear in my closet. I think she has a crush on a boy.” He giggled as Eliza turned beet red.

“Alright, have fun you two.” Ichirou went to turn around and walk to his bedroom, but Eliza pulled him back inside.

“You’re a boy too. Can you help me, please?” Eliza looked up at Ichirou with puppy dog eyes.

“You are nine years old. If you have a crush on a boy, just be yourself, I guess.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders, but he was pulled in and made to sit on the bed.

“Okay, so this skirt Yuriel picked out. Is it okay?” Eliza held it up to Ichirou.

“It’s not frilly, so I would go with it,” Ichirou smirked.

“Okay.” Eliza pulled off her sweats and Ichirou shut his eyes and turned his head. He didn’t need to see his sister changing right in front of him. “Oh, Ichirou. You’ve seen me run around butt naked before.”

“Yeah, you were four at the time and it was because you were refusing to have a bath. You are growing up.” Ichirou told her. He didn’t want to be here in the first place, and even if she had underwear on, it wasn’t proper.

“Okay, you can open your eyes,” Eliza spoke, and Ichirou slowly peeked to see that she was indeed dressed, with the skirt on. “Now, for a shirt.” She held up a yellow flowy shirt with a v-line neck and a green striped halter top.

“If you want my honest opinion. Neither. You are young and still don’t have a chest for either of those shirts.” Ichirou told her the truth. It was probably why Yuriel had them in the first place, because he wasn’t going to wear them now, or he just spent money on fashion for the hell of it.

“Ichirou, that’s a rude thing to say to Eliza.” Yuriel nudged Ichirou in the side. “I think the yellow one. It’s flowy and you can tuck it in to skirt.”

Eliza nodded her head and processed to take her overly large t-shirt off. Ichirou got up before they could even stop him and closed the bedroom door behind him. He knew Eliza wore what was classified as a bra, but he still didn’t need to see her undressing. He walked to his bedroom, shut the door, locking it, and laid down in his bed. He reached over, grabbed a comic book, and started slimming through it till he found where he left off.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug Use

A few weeks later…

School is in and school is boring for the fifth-grade class, their teacher, Mr. Wothers has to take the week off for some unknown reason to the kids, so they were stuck watching boring films and listening to a boring teacher speak. The teacher just had a monotone voice that seemed to put the kids to sleep. Though as hard as they tired, if they nodded off the teacher would use his ruler and slap it on their desk waking them up instantly.

“Now class, we shall go through the review of the upcoming math test next week. Please get out your math books and we will begin.” The teacher with the monotone voice spoke as he walked up to the chalkboard and started writing on the chalkboard.

Ichirou let out a yawn, which then made Cadance yawn, then Leon was yawning behind him, till everyone had yawned. It was contagious among the kids. Ichirou closed his eyes for a moment before he heard soft giggles. Snorting that became more giggles, till the giggles became a burst of all-out laughter. He looked beside him and seen Hayden, sitting in the desk, laughing his head off.

“Alright, students. That’s enough laughter.” The teacher turned around to see Hayden, who was red in the face with laughter.

“Hayden, what’s up with you?” Leon asked from behind Ichirou.

“Oh my… He was like… then it got bigger...” Hayden tried speaking, but his laughing fit over him, making him fall to the floor, laughing and inhaling hard to keep oxygen in his body. “You were there… Seen it happen…”

Ichirou raised a brow, he never seen Hayden like this. The quiet shy Angel. Behind Hayden’s desk, he could see Ryoji, trying to hold back his laughter. Was he laughing at Hayden, or with Hayden?

“You are acting up. I’m calling the nurses’ office.” The teacher was no impressed, just by looking at him. His voice held no emotion. He walked over to the teacher’s desk and called the nurses’ office.

“Okay, seriously guys. What is up with you two?” Ichirou was looking at Ryoji for an answer, and Ryoji, trying not to laugh, shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Hayden, before laughing at him.

Then a knock from the door came and the teacher opened it up for the nurse to come in. “The child on the ground is not responding to anything.” The nurse nodded his head and walked over to Hayden, rolling him on his back as Hayden continued to laugh hard and try to breathe in as well. The nurse looked at him and even pulled out a small light and waved it over his eye a few times, before doing the next eye.

“Okay, come with me. We need to get you settled down.” The nurse helped Hayden up and took him from the room, not before passing the teacher. “Seems he took some drugs. He will be in the nurses’ office until he has settled down.”

Ichirou raised a brow at this. Hayden took drugs? The kid was too good. Too much of a good boy to be into that kind of behavior. Though, Ryoji sat at his desk with his hand over his face, trying not to show he was laughing or smiling at Hayden’s expense. Just what was going on here?

The bell had rung and it was lunchtime. Ichirou waited for everyone to return to their desks to eat their lunch before he moved over to Hayden’s desk and sitting backward in the seat to face Ryoji. “I know you know. Tell me where he got the idea.” Ichirou spoke lowly, low enough so just Ryoji could hear him.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Ryoji looked at Ichirou with a smile on his face. “If you want I can hook you up, Hayden bought before I even knew about it, then he hooked me up.”

Ichirou narrowed his eyes. He could the high in Ryoji’s eyes. It was clear his eyes were glazed over and he was fidgety too. “You’re fucking high. Where did you get it? Don’t tell me Hayden got it for you. I know Hayden better than you think. He wouldn’t buy drugs from someone.”

“Look inside his desk.” Ryoji pointed. “Hayden bought those and I just happened to take one from him. He popped two and wow, did he ever lose it.” Ryoji started laughing, drawing attention to them. Though Ichirou snuck his head in the desk and grabbed the bottle of pills. There wasn’t a lot inside, maybe three pills left, so that meant there was originally six inside.

Ichirou got up and walked to the back of the class where his locker was and took out his backpack and headed out the door. “Where are you going?” The monotone teacher called out to Ichirou.

Pausing in the doorway, Ichirou looked at the teacher. “Out.” And he left at that, leaving even his friends confused as to why Ichirou left the classroom. He headed towards the office, but he passed by the office and walked to the nurses’ office. He opened the door and seen the nurse with his back to Ichirou and Hayden sitting on the bed in front of the nurse.

“Hey, Ichirou. Did you come to check me out too?” Hayden waved at Ichirou, a little too enthusiastic.

“I will have to ask you to leave. Hayden’s parents have been called and they will be here shortly.” The nurse turned towards Ichirou.

“Not till I get my answer from him.” Ichirou looked hard at the nurse. The nurse sighed and got up. He placed a hand on Ichirou’s shoulder, before leaving the room. Ichirou was thankful the nurse left the room, probably knew Ichirou was going to ask Hayden personal questions. He walked over to the other and pulled out a pill bottle from his pocket. “Hayden, where did you get these?”

Hayden blinked at the pill bottle, before giggling. “Oh, those are the uppers that Ryoji gave me in class. He told me they would help me stay awake. Boy, was he right. I am so awake.” He put a hand on Ichirou’s head. “I like being taller than you. You were always so tall. Were you ever short?”

Ichirou growled deep in his chest. Ryoji, that bastard lied to Ichirou. He knew Ryoji was lying to him, but he was even lying to Hayden. “Hayden, do you realize you took drugs?”

Hayden shook his head. “They aren’t drugs, they are candy. The first one was sweet, so I took another and wow, did it ever hit you like a…” Hayden trailed off as he looked at the ceiling, dazed on the ceiling for a moment. “Did you know there are 46 tiles on the ceiling?”

“Hayden, focus.” Ichirou grabbed Hayden’s head and made him face Ichirou. “Uppers is slang for drugs. Cocaine, methamphetamine, even amphetamines. We learned about this in the fourth grade.”

Hayden's eyes focused on Ichirou. He looked serious and then started to breath in and out fast like. “I took drugs? I didn’t know, why didn’t I realize it before? Ichirou, my parents are going to kill me. What do I do? What do I do?”

Ichirou gritted his teeth. He wanted to ask Hayden where he got them, not cause him to freak out. Stuffing the pill bottle in his pocket, he walked over to the door and opened it up. “Nurse, I’m sorry. Hayden’s starting to have a bad trip. After I told him what it was he took, he started hyperventilating.”

“No worries. I’ll take it from here, just get back to class.” The nurse shook his head and walked into the nurses’ office to deal with Hayden. Though Ichirou didn’t go back to class, he walked out of the main entrance beside the office and nurses’ office. He passed Hayden’s mother and father as he walked away. They gave Ichirou a dislike look, he knew why too. He looked like his father and they knew who he was.

Ichirou stopped on the sidewalk. He should punch out Ryoji for giving Hayden drugs, but he felt he needed to find the source. Who would give kids drugs? And even something that was addicting. He knows who he could ask, but was it a good idea? Deciding came fast as he spotted the city bus coming his way. Downtown was where he needed to go.

* * *

Ichirou got on the city and because he was only a school kid, he was able to get on for free. Ichirou was thankful for that. He wouldn’t have walked, but it was a long distance. The bus driver even asked if he needed him to call the police or where his destination was. Ichirou said he was going to the recording studio downtown. Then came to the question of which one. Ichirou didn’t know that, so told the bus driver to just drop him downtown and he’ll know how to get there.

It was a bit of a ride, taking more streets then Ichirou knew. Of course, the bus wasn’t going to go straight there, so he waited. It just so happened the bus had one of its stops right outside the recording studio, the bus driver said this was his only stop that was nearby this recording studio. Ichirou told the man this was the one he needed and thanked him as he got off the bus.

Walking up to the building, Ichirou knew the back doorway in and out of the studio, but he wasn’t part of the band and he wasn’t being escorted by his father. Ichirou swallowed hard and walked through the front doors. A young Vampire lady was sitting at the desk there. “What can I help you with, young man?” She gave him a friendly smile.

Though Ichirou wasn’t into smiling, he just gave her a small smirk and hooked his thumb on the strap of his backpack. “I’m looking for my father.”

The lady tilted her head. “You must be Mr. Matsumoto’s boy, correct?” Ichirou nodded his head. “My, you look so much like your father. I’ll call the studio.” She picked up the phone and told whoever was on the other end that Kazayuki’s son was here to see him. She hung up the phone. “You can go right in, do you need me to show you?”

“I’ve been here before, but through the back door. Just point and I’ll find myself there.” He told her and she pointed down the right corridor. He headed that way and walked down before he sniffed the air. The familiar scents of his father and bandmates were there so he followed his nose, till he stood outside the door of the recording studio room. He thought of knocking, but they were looking busy and he could see his father in the recording booth. He just looked through the window till he saw they had stopped the recording session and stepped inside the room.

“Oh hey there. When I heard you here I let them know you could come. Did you lose your way?” asked Kiyo, sitting there with drum sticks in his hand.

“No, I saw that you guys were recording so waited.” Ichirou gave Kiyo a serious look. He grew up around here enough to know not to disturb the recording. Then he gave Kiyo a smirk.

“Well, what did you come here for anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Kiyo smiled as if he liked seeing Ichirou skipping out of school.

Kazayuki came into the room from the booth and stood there, looking stern at Ichirou. “You better have a good reason for being here and not in school.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I told you, this week is review week and we have a sub. Who puts us all to sleep just by talking to us.” He did tell Kazayuki about this week and it was already Thursday so there shouldn’t be a problem skipping out one afternoon. “No, I came here to ask you guys a personal question, and yeah.” He looked down at the ground, as his shoes.

Kazayuki sighed. “Guys, we will take a ten-minute break. Let’s go outside for a moment.” He understood that Ichirou’s question was personal and wouldn’t dare ask it in front of anyone else, especially when he hung his head low like a shy boy.

Ichirou followed them out through the back door. Kiyo, Junji, and Yutaka followed Kazayuki out. Kazayuki pulled out a cigarette and lit the tobacco stick before offering one to everyone else, but Ichirou. “Now, what is this question about?”

“Well, I want to know if any of you know anyone who would sell to school kids?” Well, Ichirou should have explained himself as he saw Yutaka look at him with shock, Kiyo was smiling trying not to laugh and Junji hung his head shaking it side to side either he was disappointed or laughing. Kazayuki on the other hand had a look that could kill Ichirou on the spot.

“What makes you think we know anyone like that? Why would we tell you if we did? And you better not be getting into it. You saw how messed up Mizuki was and how close to death he became.” Kazayuki was deadly serious, the tone in his voice, the growl in his throat made Ichirou wish he had asked the others without his father around.

Ichirou shook his head. “I’m not doing drugs. One of my friends, Hayden, didn’t know what he took and he took two pills. Ryoji, another kid in my class, gave him the drugs said they would help him stay alert in class.” Ichirou reached into his pocket and pulled out the pill bottle with three pills still inside. Kazayuki grabbed the pill bottle and opened it up and looked inside. Junji peeked over his shoulder. “I want to know who would sell drugs to kids that are only ten years old.”

Junji took the pill bottle from Kazayuki and popped one in his mouth. Ichirou looked at him like he was crazy stupid for doing that. Kazayuki watched him, and they waited till it kicked in for Junji.“You know, it is familiar. It’s a meth and ecstasy mixture.” He looked up at the building before a smile crept on his face slowly. “Yup, this would keep you from falling asleep in class. Though, if you aren’t used to its effects you would feel like you are on a ride of a lifetime.”

“Junji, I wish you wouldn’t have taken it. You still have to record.” Kazayuki shook his head, not impressed by his bandmember. “Well, it’s a common mixture for club-goers, who think it’s just straight ecstasy.”

Kiyo slapped his hands in front of Junji’s face, making the other flinch something bad. He laughed at Junji’s reaction. “Only way to find out who sold the drug is to know how it was pressed. Sometimes dealers press their drugs especially if you got Meth as a mixture with it.”

Kazayuki looked at the two last pills in the bottle. “Nothing different from the usual.” He shrugged his shoulders and handed the bottle to Yutaka.

“He’s right. They look like pressed Mollys.” Yutaka closed up the pill bottle. “Kid, your school buddy could have gotten this off anyone. Though I don’t know who would sell to a young kid, it is possible someone from highschool sold them. The city has a few drug dealers, but they mostly sell to their regulars and only allow their regulars to buy from them with new buyer’s money till the dealer is pleased with how much he sells to the new buyer. I know my guy wouldn’t sell to Junji or Kiyo till he knew they were alright and not reselling his product, but he would never sell to a young kid.” He looked at Kazayuki. “What about Mizuki’s dealer? She might sell to kids, she’s always liked kids and is happy when they are around.”

“No, out of the question.” Kazayuki pushed off the side of the building he was leaning against. “I’m not doing that again. I got Mizuki to stop and I don't need him getting back into it.”

“Dude, that was over six years ago. I think he has kicked the habit by now.” Kiyo pointed out. “He’s the only one who would have contact with her and if she does sell to kids, well, what are we going to do about it? Now that you mention it, the only thing would be to bust her, but what are the cops going to do, put her jail for a few nights and let her go. She’s not killing anyone, and if she sells to kids, well they would watch her for a bit to make sure she doesn’t, but it could start up again. There aren’t any harsh laws against selling drugs.”

Ichirou looked at Kiyo and then back to his dad. Knowing the law was different here, Ichirou should have suspected that much. He grew up on the tour bus and learned a lot about the mainland and their laws, but forgot the same laws don’t apply here. “I guess this means I just have to carry on like nothing is happening.”

“Sorry, Ichirou. I know you just trying to get some justice for your buddy there, but there is nothing we can do about it, nor would the law help you.” Yutaka could see how much this upset Ichirou.

“I’ll tell Hayden’s mom where Hayden got the drugs, telling her you found out about it because you were offered them. Maybe she will see that you aren’t such a bad kid, unlike your father.” Kazayuki smirked down at Ichirou, trying to find some light into this situation.

“I highly doubt they will let Hayden have any friends now. They accepted Ryoji because of Ryoji’s parents and what they do. Even if I’m a good boy, they will still look at you and see where I came from.” Ichirou had an idea of just how Hayden’s parents control who Hayden was friends with. “I’ll head back to school and let you guys finish up here.” Ichirou turned away.

“Ichirou, just go home. I’ll call the school and say that you weren’t feeling well and left.” Kazayuki called out to Ichirou, who nodded his head and walked to the bus stop. He didn’t know bus routes, but he was sure the bus driver would either take him to the condominium or close to it if Ichirou gave the address.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug Use

The next day, Ichirou thought Hayden would have been on the bus, but no. They had gotten there a little earlier to the school, and Hayden wasn’t outside either. When Ichirou got inside and went to his locker to put his backpack away, he had turned around and seen Hayden sitting at his desk. Hayden’s usual long black hair had been cut like someone took Hayden’s hair that was usually in a tie and just chopped it off from there. His black hair was straight so it was easy to see how bad of a cut job it was.

  


Ichirou walked over to his desk and looked at Hayden. That’s when he noticed the harsh bruise on Hayden’s upper arm and even the bruise on his face. If Hayden were to have been a Vampire, these bruises would have taken a few minutes to heal, but Hayden was an Angel and it was clear now that Angels didn’t exactly have the healing ability Vampires did. Though Ichirou knew Angels couldn’t get sick, Vampires could.

  


“What’s up, Hayden?” Ichirou asked, though he probably should have waited for Hayden to notice him as Hayden nearly jumped out of his seat. “Sorry.”

  


“N-no, it’s fine.” Hayden studdered, he tried to make himself look smaller by curling up his arms against his stomach. “I can’t talk to you. Or anyone, Ichirou.”

  


Ichirou raised a brow. “What happened to you?” Ichirou asked, as he never saw Hayden act this way before. He was acting like a small scared child. Just like the first day, Ichirou met him, but Ichirou talked to him and that opened him up.

  


“I’m not supposed to talk about it.” Hayden wasn’t even looking towards Ichirou. He wasn’t even going to answer Ichirou’s questions.

  


Ichirou was about to open his mouth again, but the teacher came up to the front of the class and started the day. Ichirou kept looking over at Hayden. Hayden was defeated, head hung low, hugging himself, and didn’t even do anything but shiver a few times. Ichirou could sense the fear and uneasiness in Hayden, but why?

  


When Lunchtime came around, Ryoji tried talking to Hayden, even touching his shoulder. Hayden looked scared like a doe in headlights scared. “I’m not talking to you.” He told Ryoji a bit louder than he probably attended to and turned back around in his desk and shivered.

  


Something was up and he was going to find out, someway. He tried at recess but Hayden had walked the other way, towards the office. So, next recess, Ichirou was going to find out. He waited patiently for the bell to ring, completely ignoring the teacher and everything around him.

  


Then the bell had rung, Ichirou wanted to get up and rush out the door, but he moved slowly. Followed everyone out and seen Hayden turn towards the direction of the office. Ichirou took his chance to follow Hayden as other kids pushed past him, then Hayden made a detour, going to the boy’s washroom. Ichirou ducked in and saw there were two other boys in there, doing their business, but Hayden wasn’t in there? No, he was in one of the stalls. Ichirou waited till the boys left, and waited some more, Hayden still wasn’t coming out.

  


“Hayden, I know your in here. Come out.” Ichirou walked over to the locked stall and knocked on it. Still no answer. “I’ll kick the door in if you don’t open it.”

  


Then the sound of the lock being unlocked was heard and Ichirou gently pushed the door open to see Hayden, sitting on the toilet, tears falling on his jeans. “Oh, Hayden. Talk to me, tell me what’s happening.” Ichirou sighed as he walked into the stall, closed the door behind him, and bent down in front of Hayden.

  


“Oh, Ichirou. It’s bad. It’s so so bad.” Hayden sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “They disowned me. My parents. They said they never want to see me again.” He cried harder. “They brought me to school and told me to not talk to anyone and that they’ll be picking me up after and…” He trailed off as the waterworks continued.

  


“Shh,” Ichirou shushed Hayden and wrapped his arms around his shoulders as he stood up. Hayden clung to his shirt. “It’ll be alright. I know it will be. They can’t disown you, you are their child.”

  


Hayden shook his head. “They did disown me. I’m adopted, remember?” Hayden pulled away from Ichirou and looked up at him. “I’m going to be put into foster care. I don’t know where I am going or if I will even be coming back to school.”

  


Ichirou made a face as if he was stung by Hayden’s words. It was clear Hayden didn’t want to go to foster care. Ichirou didn’t know much about it but knew that a family took in children and that was about it for knowledge, but Hayden seemed heartbroken, torn. His family was giving up on Hayden.

  


“They blame you, Ichirou. They really do.” Hayden sniffed again. “I told them I got the drugs from Ryoji and they blamed you. Blamed you for selling the drugs to Ryoji. I know Ryoji didn’t get the drugs from you, I know that. But they believe you did sell them to him. They blamed it on your father, and his connections, they blamed it on his bad behavior rubbing off on you and that you needed the money for your own drug problem. They really believe you and your family are a bunch of drug addicts.” Hayden broke down crying more and Ichirou just held him close. How much he wanted to hurt Hayden’s family right now was boiling in his blood with rage, though hurting them would on prove that Ichirou was a bad seed as they thought he was. So far from the truth.

  


“Please, Hayden. Just calm down.” Ichirou was rubbing his back. “You are in this school. I’m sure whatever foster family you go to will still allow you to come here. It’s not like it’s any money out of their pocket for you to come here.”

  


“Are you sure?” Hayden looked up at Ichirou. “What if they live right beside the other school?”

  


“I’m sure you will still be going to this school, even if you lived right beside the other one. Your records and grades are here and you only have two more years here, so it won’t be long before highschool.” Ichirou was trying to make Hayden feel better, though he wasn’t even sure himself. He didn’t want to lose Hayden as a school friend. Though, even if they did lose touch, there was high school.

  


Hayden nodded, believing Ichirou’s words. “Okay.” Hayden moved Ichirou back a bit so he could get up off the toilet seat, and Ichirou took it as a sign to get out of the stall. Though, just as he opened the stall, there in front of it was Ryoji, crossing his arms over his chest, not looking happy.

  


“They had a right to blame Ichirou for everything.” Ryoji looked past Ichirou to Hayden. “I wanted to tell you, that my parents are your new foster parents. I heard about it this morning. You will be living with me.”

  


Hayden’s eyes widen. “Really? I’ll be living with you?” He questioned himself, before looking at the floor.

  


“Yes, and no more uppers. I thought they would help us as the person I got them from said they help with concentration during boring school classes. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” Ryoji was sounding genuinely sorry. Though Ichirou knew better, somehow Ryoji still rubbed him the wrong way, but he let it slide. Hayden was in higher spirits now, to be going to his new foster home where his friend was living too. Sure, Ryoji’s parents were foster parents, but it still seemed a bit troubling to Ichirou.

  


The school bell rang and Ichirou followed Hayden and Ryoji out of the boy’s washroom and back to their class. Going home and having a nap was sounding pretty good to Ichirou right now, the teacher was boring, the class was boring, and the stress of worrying about his friend had taken its toll on him. Sleep was sounding better and better now that he could stop worrying about his friend.

* * *

Ichirou opened the door for Eliza and Yuriel and the two of them ran inside, not even taking their shoes off, and headed straight to Eliza’s room. What a nine-year-old and a six-year-old had in common right now, Ichirou wouldn’t know. He knew he just wanted to sleep. He didn’t even make it far from the door after taking his shoes off, he would usually have a blood package after school, but the couch was calling to him, so he made it to the couch at least.

  


He had passed out face-first into the couch, and before he knew it curse words were being slurred out. “Holy fuck! The fucking bitch can go straight to fucking Hell!” Ichirou groaned hearing his father’s colorful vocabulary. “I’m going to show that fucking bitch what a real druggy looks like! She knows fuck all about drugs!”

  


“Kazayuki, please. Watch your language.” Mizuki spoke calmly. Ichirou sat up on the couch and peeked over the back to see both Mizuki and Kazayuki walking in, a bit unsteady. He blinked turned around, seen it was dark outside.

  


“Are you guys just getting home?” Ichirou let out a yawn and stretched as he stood up.

  


“No, we’ve been home before. Made supper, and took the kids to Yomi’s. We went out to drink.” Mizuki wobbled over to the couch and sat down quickly. “We tried waking you, but you were just out of it.”

  


“You better not have done any fucking drugs, Ichirou. If I catch you with drugs, I’mma beat your ass boy.” Kazayuki was leaning against the back of the couch, pointing a finger towards Ichirou, or trying to with one eye shut so he could focus his finger on Ichirou. “Hayden’s mom is a bitch and doesn’t know fucking shit about shit.”

  


Ichirou looked at his father with wide eyes. He had never seen his father this drunk before in his entire life. Then again he was only eleven years old and if his father did get this drunk, Ichirou would have been in bed, sleeping. “Understood, father. I’m going to go to my room. You guys…” Ichirou was looking between the two, Mizuki had a look of need in his eyes towards his father and Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Just fuck already.”

  


“Hey, don’t use that language in this house, young man.” Mizuki tried to scold Ichirou, but he broke out laughing. “I just… I just called him a man.” Kazayuki found the funny side in that as well, as he started laughing.

  


Ichirou waved his hand at them, walked to the fridge and pulled out two blood packages, and headed to his room. He didn’t want to be disturbed and he didn’t want to be around them, they weren’t alcoholics or anything, they just had too much to drink tonight. Ichirou decided he would play video games till he fell asleep. Though, as he started up his game system, music for the stereo started blaring. He highly doubted he was going to get any sleep tonight.

  


Ichirou thought the music was just playing to cover up Mizuki and Kazayuki having sex, but he was wrong as other people started entering the place. He noticed Junji’s scent and Yutaka’s, but there were other scents that Ichirou was smelling. Like the scent of beer and hard liquor filled his nose as he heard other voices. He grabbed his blanket and placed it in front of the door. That would stop the smell from now, but his other senses were trying to figure out what was going on out there.

  


Grabbing a set of headphones and putting them on, he plugged them into his controller so he could only hear his game, as he grabbed one of the two blood packages he grabbed from the fridge and started sucking back on it. He didn’t want to know, he wasn’t curious about anything going on out there. If it was like any game party they threw before, there would be drugs and his father would be there to stop Mizuki from partaking in the act. So all was good.

  


As time flew, Ichirou realized he wasn’t getting tired, but he was bored playing his video games, having switch out the game at least four times now. He took off his headset and walked to his door. He was cautious as he lifts the blanket and threw it on the bed. Just the smell of alcohol was filling his nose. So, he opened his door and peeked out, there was still laugher and talking going on, so he grabbed his two empty blood packages and walked to the kitchen.

  


Curious to see what was going on, but not paying attention as he threw his packages in the garbage. “Oi, Ichirou. Come here!” He heard Junji call out to him. He looked towards Junji and seen him sitting on the footstool in front of the coffee table.

  


Ichirou stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked around the kitchen island. There he saw a redhead woman he had seen before once, a long time ago, when Mizuki had locked him in his bedroom. She smiled at him. “Look, it’s the mini Kazayuki growing up so fast.” She was sitting on the couch beside Yutaka, though Yutaka wasn’t disturbed by Ichirou’s presence as he was making out hard with another girl beside him on the couch.

  


“Yeah, he’s got Kazayuki’s attitude and that deathly glare too.” Junji chuckled. “Come on, sit.” Junji reached out for Ichirou’s arm and pulled him closer. Ichirou sat beside Junji on the footstool. “See, we are going to teach you a thing or two about drugs.”

  


Ichirou raised a brow at Junji. “I already know about drugs.” Ichirou pulled a hand out of his pocket and pointed to the lines of white substance on the table. “That’s cocaine, better known as nose candy, blow, or coke.” Then he pointed to a small pipe with a burnt end. “That’s for crack cocaine, better known as rocks, grit, or cookies.”

  


The redhead woman and Junji both looked at Ichirou with amazement on their faces. Yutaka had pulled away from the woman he was making out with to watch and hear what Ichirou was doing. “You know your cocaine, but do you know your other drugs?” The redhead woman had a purse beside her that she opened up and brought out three needles. “What are these, pumpkin?”

  


Ichirou blinked at her then looked down at the needles, a slight flashback hit him. From the night he remembered seeing this woman before, he had a needle inject something into him, something that made his body feel weird before he passed out. “Uh, heroine.”

  


“Oh, you are smart.” She smiled at him all friendly-like. Then the woman beside Yutaka pushed Yutaka back and reached out for a needle. The redhead didn’t complain as the woman took it, popped off the lid, and stuck it into her arm. Ichirou flinched and looked away at that point.

  


“Wow, baby. You are hardcore.” Yutaka was heard saying before Ichirou could hear them making out with the soft moans.

  


Ichirou was getting uncomfortable sitting there and it wasn’t from the scent of arousal, that wasn’t even affecting him right now. It was Junji’s glazed over look in his eyes on Ichirou and the redhead pulling out something else from her purse and she produced a plastic bag with small tablet pills inside. The same pills Ichirou remembered seeing in that pill bottle Hayden had in his desk. The same ones Hayden took.

  


“Can you guess what these are?” The redhead asked, her friendly smile turned wicked as she showed her fangs. Ichirou would have never guessed she was a Vampire, then again he other senses weren’t all there at the moment. Was he getting second hand high off something?

  


“Those are pills. Mollys if they are ecstasy.” Ichirou blinked a few times, he was feeling something now. He shook his head. “I’m going back to my bedroom.” He tried to stand up but Junji pulled him back down.

  


“No, stay with us big boys. Your dad is just in the bedroom with Mizuki.” Junji laughed, before picking up a straw and he sniffed one of the lines on the table. “Man, I remember when your dad used to hit this shit like crazy. He wrote awesome music too. Always so dark. Now it’s all about the lighter side of rock and roll. Damn, he still knows how to create good music.”

  


“Really, I should go back to my bedroom, Junji. You know how my father doesn’t like it when I’m around drugs.” Ichirou was looking towards the master bedroom door, hoping to Hell he got out of there before his father came out.

  


“If your dad didn’t want you around or exposed to drugs, he would have sent you away. Though, here you are, in your home. You can go where ever you choose to go, whether there are drugs or not.” The redhead smiled friendly once again.

  


Ichirou shook his head. “I would like to go back to my bedroom, but that doesn’t seem to be an option, does it?” He glared at Junji and the redhead. This glare made the redhead squeal in delight.

  


“He is so Kazayuki. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has all the woman begging at his feet when he is older.” The redhead was so happy, it was kind of scaring Ichirou, but he didn’t let it show.

  


“I told you. Attitude and all. Ichirou will make a fine young man someday.” Junji ruffled Ichirou’s spikey black hair.

  


“You know, I remember you from the last time you were here. Even then, I remember Mizuki overdosing on heroin, and somehow a needle was injected into my skin.” Ichirou shook his head. “You are bad news to me, lady.”

  


“You do remember me then.” The redhead didn’t seem surprised. “If you had a needle injected into you, you must have had a wild trip.”

  


“I didn’t have a wild trip, I overdosed. Though, my father drained me of most of the heroine in my system so it didn’t last long.” Ichirou snarled, he wanted to get out of here. Something was blocking his senses, probably the cocaine in the air, that had to be it.

  


“Awe, his first OD experience.” She looked like she was about to cry. “I made that happen. I feel so proud.”

  


The redhead was proud, proud to have caused Ichirou to overdose on drugs she left behind. The same drugs she had let Mizuki take when he was pregnant with Yuriel. What kind of fucked up world was this woman living in? Ichirou shook his head, he needed to get his thoughts straight, he needed to get out of here.

  


“Now, about those Mollys.” Junji grinned like a child in a candy store. The redhead opened up her bag and placed two on them in his hand.

  


“They are low doses, but taking one will keep you high, but two will have the world spinning for you. I usually tell kids to keep it to one pill, because two will kill you. That’s just to make sure they don’t cause any problems when they take two.” The redhead explained this to Junji, Ichirou pieces the puzzle together.

  


“You sell your drugs to kids?” Ichirou inquired. He looked at her suspiciously. The thought of Hayden crossed his mind before but now it was there again as she handed Junji the drugs. Junji popped one in his mouth and set the other on the table.

  


“Only, highschool kids. Not kids your age. Though, once they get to the high school kids, what they do with their pills is their business, not mine.” The redhead woman didn’t seem to care, care that her drugs were probably being resold. “Would you like one?” Her smile seemed friendly enough, but she was putting her bag of pills back in her purse. “You’d have to ask your friend there for the other one. I don’t give my supplies out to young kids.”

  


So, Ichirou was trying to reel everything in his head. Hayden got the pills from Ryoji. Ryoji got the pills from someone else. This woman didn’t sell to elementary kids but sold to highschool kids, so Ryoji must have gotten them off a highschool kid. Though, that didn’t help Ichirou at all. Just because a high school kid sold to Ryoji didn’t help the situation. What was done was done, there was no fixing this situation.

  


Ichirou shook his head, he got up and this time Junji didn’t stop him. He walked away till he turned back around. The redhead was watching him walk away and waving her hand at him. Junji was looking at Ichirou and gave him a wink. This was clearly a setup, a set up so Ichirou knew where the drugs came from that his friend had taken. Well, now that Ichirou knew this information, it didn’t help him out at all. He knew where the supplies came from and that was it. Even if he called the police on her, nothing serious would stop it from continuing.

* * *

That morning, Ichirou slept in, slept in as long as he could till kids were jumping on his bed. “Get up, Ichirou. It’s lunchtime.” Both Eliza and Yuriel were bouncing on his bed, trying to get Ichirou up. He didn’t want to get up, he was feeling sluggish. He growled deep in his throat, throwing his pillow over his head.

  


“Okay, you guys. Ichirou had a rough night.” Mizuki was heard laughing lightly from the doorway, as both kids whined that Ichirou got to sleep in. Yuriel and Eliza got up off the bed and left the room as Mizuki walked over and sat on the bed. “Ichirou, you need to get up.”

  


“Why?” Ichirou whined and tried to roll away, but Mizuki was sitting on his blanket making it impossible because he was wrapped up in it. He sat up and looked at Mizuki with tired eyes.

  


“You have to get up, or your father will drag you out of bed.” Mizuki grinned. “And today, I wouldn’t make him mad. He’s been up for a while and he is feeling the effects of drinking way too much.” Mizuki ruffled Ichirou’s hair and stood up, heading out of the room.

  


“Yeah, I’m feeling something too,” Ichirou mumbled to himself.

  


“What was that?” Mizuki stopped and eyed Ichirou. Ichirou just shook his head and got up. He didn’t know what he was feeling was due to the lack of sleep or from secondhand smoke in the air. He was pretty sure it was just the lack of sleep.

  


Getting dress, he made his way out to the open concept area and see that Eliza and Yuriel were outside now, playing in the pool. Ichirou walked over to the fridge, grabbed a blood package, and sat down in the armchair in the living room area. Kazayuki was sprawled out on the couch.

  


“You finally got out of bed.” Kazayuki groaned out, even though his eyes were closed. “You shouldn’t have stayed up so late.”

  


“You shouldn’t have partied so hard,” Ichirou told him back.

  


“You got me there.” Kazayuki chuckled lightly, but even that was too much for him as he groaned. “Don’t ever drink, Ichirou. It’s fun at first, but the aftermath is horrible.”

  


“I understand.” Was all Ichirou said, as he sighed. He finished his blood package and Mizuki walked by. Mizuki took the empty package from him and threw it out before heading outside with the kids, he was wearing his own swim trunks and going in the water too.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug Use

Ichirou is thirteen, Eliza is eleven, Yuriel is nine…

About two years had passed and Ichirou hated it, he hated the fact he was in the seventh grade already. This year had more homework than usual. It wasn’t that Ichirou couldn’t finish it in class, it was the fact the teacher this year assigned more than usual. The excuse was that they had to prepare for highschool. Though Ichirou had consulted with a highschool student, Niko, and they didn’t have this much work assigned to them in high school.

Letting out a sigh of relief as he finished with the science textbook, Ichirou leaned back in his chair at the dining table, looking at the ceiling. He was tired already, a few months into school and the work was taking a toll on him. He wished he could just skip ahead a grade, but he had missed his chance to take the test to see where is academic level was. He was pulling A’s on the tests the teacher would prepare them for and even on pop quizzes. He hated being the smartest kid in class too. The teacher would call on him for stupid reasons, though, sometimes Ichirou wasn’t even paying attention.

“You should take a break. Studying too much will kill your brain cells, son.” Kazayuki was relaxing on the couch, watching TV.

“Right, like you are killing yours by watching TV. Isn’t there something you should be doing?” Ichirou asked his father. Mizuki and the other two kids weren’t even at home. Something about shopping and Ichirou didn’t want to go, well, because of all this homework he had to do every night.

“Hey, you live as long as I have, you can sit in front of the television set and turn your brain to mush.” Kazayuki gave Ichirou a look, though Ichirou wasn’t sure what kind of look it was supposed to be. It seemed serious, but not serious.

“Well, I’m pulling A’s in class, so will you give an excuse to the teacher that this extra work is killing me and I won't make it through the year if I keep getting homework?” Ichirou smirked at his father, hoping something would work.

Kazayuki shook his head. “What do you have left to do?” He shut off the TV and walked over to Ichirou.

“History and Math.” Ichirou pointed to the stack he still had to get through. “This pile is finished.” He grabbed it and opened his backpack that was beside the table and placed the textbooks in it.

“Okay, Mizuki isn’t here,” Kazayuki looked at his phone and seen no texts from Mizuki. “Hand me the Math.”

Ichirou blinked at his father, as he passed the Math textbook towards him, as Kazayuki picked up a pencil and sat beside Ichirou. “What are you doing?” Ichirou didn’t know what was going on right now.

“I’m keeping my son from dying from an overworked brain,” Kazayuki smirked and ruffled Ichirou’s black spikey hair. His red eyes looked into Ichirou’s dark red eyes with humor in them.

“Are you sure? This isn’t simple stuff.” Ichirou opened the page were a few papers were keeping it bookmarked. “I’ve already started on this page, and I have to the next two pages after this one.” He pointed it out to his father. “Are you seriously going to help me by doing my work for me?”

“You know this shit already, it just needs to be written out on paper and solved, right?” Kazayuki looked at his son, and Ichirou nodded his head. “Good, as long as you already understand this, I’ll just finish it for you.” And Kazayuki got to work on the next question Ichirou needed to finish and complete. Ichirou was just staring, his father had almost the same numbering style as him and the first question he did, he got it correct, then the second one was correct. “What are you waiting for? Get to work.” Kazayuki pointed at the History book in front of Ichirou.

“Yeah, right. Where was I?” Ichirou flipped through a few pages and started to get to work. Both of them worked hard to complete the task in front of them, the only sounds being made was pages turning in books and pencils scratching against paper. It took them both about an hour to finished.

Ichirou smirked at his father. “Thank you, father.” He felt relieved to be finished homework early.

Kazayuki patted Ichirou on the back. “Your father may be old school, but Math never changes.” He pushed him away from the table and looked at the time. “Now, help me out in the kitchen. We need to make supper.”

Rolling his eyes, Ichirou put the rest of his books away. He was going to go over his father’s work later, just to make sure it was correct. He wasn’t a nerd about getting everything correct, but he didn’t like mistakes either.

Just then a text came from Kazayuki’s phone and Ichirou grabbed the phone before his father could, as he was already in the kitchen. “Mizuki said he and the kids are going out for supper. Some special occasion for Eliza.” He set the phone back down on the table. “What is this special occasion?”

Kazayuki snorted. “You nevermind that. Just supper for the two of us tonight, so we will cook supper together for just us.” He chuckled, as Ichirou placed his backpack beside the kitchen island and washed his hands in the sink.

“Can I cook the meat?” Ichirou asked his father. “I want a steak. Some blood rare steak.” Ichirou said, just as his stomach growled.

“Sure, just pull them out of the freezer and defrost them in cold water. I’ll make some potatoes and veggies to go with it.” Kazayuki had already started on the potatoes, skinning them and chopping them up.

“Sounds like a plan.” Ichirou chuckled as he pulled the steaks out of the freezer. Something else caught his eye in the freezer, but he closed it before he could think anymore about it.

The two males in the home cooked their supper together. Ichirou helped with cutting vegetables, before going outside and cooking the steaks on the BBQ. Kazayuki started on the potatoes, dice them up and put them in a pot of water, and fried up the vegetables in oil in the frying pan. Once their supper was cooked, they sat down at the dining table and enjoyed their meal together with the radio station on in the background on low volume.

After they had finished, Ichirou took it upon himself to do the dishes, as Kazayuki went outside for a cigarette. That’s when curiosity got the better of Ichirou and he opened the freezer, keeping an eye on his father as he looked. There in the back of the freezer was a plastic bag with rolled up smokes, though Ichirou pulled them out of the freezer and opened the bag and sniffed it. It wasn’t tobacco, he let curiosity get the best of him and he took one out, closing up the plastic bag and stuffing it back into the freezer. He closed the freezer door and almost jumped out of his skin as Kazayuki was standing right there.

“Hand it over.” Kazayuki held out his hand for Ichirou to place the rolled smoke in his hand. Ichirou handed it over and looked defeated as he turned back around to do the dishes. “Don’t bother. Come outside.”

Looking at his father, Ichirou blinked. The thirteen-year-old boy followed his father outside. “I’m sorry, I just want to know what it was and why it was in the freezer.” Ichirou tried to plead with his father as they walked outside. Kazayuki was striking his lighter till he had a flame and the rolled smoke in his mouth, his puffed at it till it was burning nicely.

Kazayuki took a few more puffs before handing it to Ichirou. “It’s called cannabis. Other names are marijuana, weed, or pot. Whatever you want to call it. Take a puff.” Ichirou was eyeing it, not making a move. “Yeah, I know you know it’s a drug, but it can be used for medical uses or recreational uses. I rather you smoke it with me than smoke it behind my back.”

Ichirou took the seriousness of his father’s words and took the joint from his father and take a small puff, inhaling it till he felt the heavy air pass down his throat and exhaled. Smooth. He didn’t think it was bad, it was better smelling than the cigarettes his father smoked. He took another puff, though bigger than the first and he didn’t have a chance to stop himself from inhaling anymore than he should and started coughing.

Kazayuki took the joint from him and puffed on it himself as Ichirou finished coughing. “It’s not like a cigarette, it’s heavier than cigarette smoke.” He chuckled as Ichirou looked up at him with watery eyes.

“I guess, but I haven’t even had a cigarette.” Ichirou wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“If you know what’s good for you, you won’t pick up on that dirty habit, though once you are eighteen, you can do whatever you like.” Kazayuki took another long puff on the joint and handed it to Ichirou.

Ichirou was sure his father wanted him to experience puffing once on the joint, but handing it back to him, Ichirou brought it up to his lips and took another small puff, before taking a few quick puffs at once and handed the joint back to Kazayuki. He exhaled and realized he was sort of feeling the effects of the cannabis like he was lighter than he should be. Was it messing with his head?

Kazayuki smirked, finishing up the joint and snuffing out in the ashtray and taking what was left of the little paper and unwrapping it and letting small little specs of green mix in the ashes of the ashtray. “Come on, let’s get you back to doing dishes.” His father chuckled and slapped Ichirou’s shoulder.

Ichirou watched his father walk ahead of him, he was feeling lighter as he walked, even though he father had just slapped his shoulder once and he was standing in front of Ichirou, Ichirou could still feel the weight of his father’s hand on his shoulder. Even trying to push the idea out of his head, the feeling was still there. He never felt like this before, he wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not. “What’s wrong with me?”

Kazayuki watched Ichirou walk, almost too painfully slow into the home. “You’re high, son. Just act normal and let the high take you places. If you act too much into the high, Mizuki is going to notice.”

Ichirou’s eyes went wide. “Shit, dad why did you offer?” He looked over to the kitchen sink, but somehow it looked farther than it should have been.

“Because you need to know what drugs do to you and I rather you get fucked up around me than on your own somewhere else.” Kazayuki could see Ichirou was going to take his time getting to the sink, so he grabbed ahold of Ichirou’s shoulders and helped him at a faster pace to the kitchen sink. “It’ll wear off, give it a few hours.”

Ichirou tried to shake to his head, but instead, he smirked. He turned to the sink and started washing dishes. As he was watching the suds in the dishes, he started to laugh quietly to himself. Feeling the bubbles pop as his hand went through them, it was amazing for him to experience. The hot water biting at his hand as he ran the dish through it to wash the suds off was another amazing feeling. It used to feel painful, but the bite of the water wasn’t like that, it kind of tickled. He didn’t know how long he was standing there, trying to wash dishes, but his father called out to him.

“Ichirou, they’ll be back soon.” Kazayuki was heard, but Ichirou thought his father was much farther than the couch. He had to turn around to see where he was.

“What was that?” Ichirou called out, but he used a louder voice than intended.

Kazayuki chuckled as he walked over to Ichirou. “Are you tone deaf now?” He looked at what was done of the dishes, Ichirou only washed the plates so far. “Go hop in the shower, I’ll finish these up.” He gave Ichirou a nudge to move over.

Ichirou nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll do that.” Though he kept nodding his head up and down in short nods. His world was feeling like he was experiencing an earthquake from just nodding his head, he didn’t want the feeling to stop.

“Ichirou.” Kazayuki watched his son. “Go have a shower and go to bed. Can you handle that or do you need me to help you with that?”

Ichirou’s eyes grew wide. “Nope, I’m good. I’m just leaving now.” And Ichirou walked away from his father, hearing his chuckle in the distance. He was trying to act as normal as possible, but his world felt strange to him. He walked into the bathroom, started the shower, and didn’t even check the water before hopping in. It was ice cold and he let out a squeal. “Shit, cool!”

Ichirou tried for the life of him to get the right temperature but no matter what, it was either too cold or too hot. He struggled to find the medium of the temperature but settled on something cool, rather than warm. He put his two and one hair and body wash through his hair first before scrubbing down his body.

Once the soap was gone from his body, he shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing the first towel he could feel, not paying attention. Giving his body a shock of a lifetime with the cold and hot water, Ichirou realized he wasn’t as high as before. He felt mellow like he could crawl into bed and sleep. He got to the bedroom somehow and looked at the bed, before looking back at the bathroom. How did he get here so fast? He shook his head, grabbing the towel around his waist and drying off his hair and the rest of his upper body that had water droplets. He closed his bedroom door, making the room as dark as possible, and just crawled into bed as he was, the towel on the floor.

* * *

The next morning, Ichirou woke up. He felt good, he felt in better spirits, he felt pasty. He was trying to lick his mouth, make it feel not so pasty and dry, but his salvia wasn’t helping. He got up out of bed and got dressed for school. He remembered everything that happened last night after they had supper. Ichirou experienced his first high, well the first high he didn’t pass out from. He couldn’t believe his father let him smoke some cannabis, though it felt good. It would be their little secret.

After he got dress he walked out to the kitchen area and walked to the fridge, pulling out a blood package. Mizuki was in the kitchen area cooking up some pancakes for both Yuriel and Eliza, who were sitting there. “Morning Ichirou,” Mizuki said with a smile on his face and passed out the pancakes to the other two.

Ichirou just nodded his head and walked over to Eliza’s plate and scooped a drop of syrup from her pancake with her finger. “Ichirou, buzz off! Mama, Ichirou is bugging me.” She called out to Mizuki, who only just behind Ichirou.

“Ichirou, let her be.” Mizuki pulled Ichirou away from Eliza. “She’s just not herself. Let it slide.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders and walked away, not before putting his empty package in the garbage. He grabbed his backpack and started putting on his shoes. He was ready to go catch the bus, but the other two were still eating. “Ichirou, I’m taking the kids to school today, if you want you can catch a ride with us.”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, I’ll take the bus.” Looking at the time, the bus was going to get there soon, so he left the condominium and took the stairs down. It was faster than the elevator and even if he waited for the elevator, he would still have time to catch the bus, but he liked the exercise of taking the stairs.

Catching the bus and even making it to school early, Ichirou waited by the doors that would allow him inside. Dameian and Leon came to school by walking and they headed towards Ichirou. He smirked as Leon had to push Dameian away from him.

“No, man. Look, it’s huge.” Dameian was pointing at Leon’s face. “It’s like white and shit. You should pop it like the kids do in that one video.”

Ichirou raised a brow. Leon sighed and showed Ichirou the side of his face. On his face was barely a small white pimple. The way Dameian was going on about it, Ichirou would have expected it to be bigger than that. “Damn, I hate you guys. You always have such flawless skin.” Lean complained, once again pushing Dameian away from him, as the boy tried to poke it.

“I wouldn’t say that’s a good thing.” Ichirou shrugged. He was standing taller than them, at least by a head taller, Dameian was an inch taller than Leon now.

“I would. You guys don’t even go through puberty, unlike us humans. You just get taller and that’s it.” Leon scowled at Dameian. It was clear he was always taller than Dameian, but now, Dameian was getting taller than him.

“We go through puberty, it’s just quicker than you. Where you guys go through till you are adults, we go through it till we are in the middle of our teen years, and all the body changes and growth stop for us.” Ichirou hated to explain this to his friend, but they weren’t even taught about Vampires, only human puberty.

“Swear, if we have to watch another dumb boring movie in Health class today, I’m going to rip my hair out.” Dameian fisted his hair already tugging on it. “I’m not learning anything new, we watched and heard all this stuff last year. The sixth-grade and seventh-grade boys and girls are always split. Girls get to enjoy Gym class first, where we have to sit through Health class. I want gym class first.”

Ichirou watched his friend having his own dilemma. It was always the same. Dameian just wanted Gym class for the boys to be first. “How about this? I teach the class, we skip Health and Gym class together and just stay outside playing basketball or something.”

Leon snorted. “Yeah, until one of the teachers sees us outside playing. We might as well skip and go to the park, that way we have time to return at lunchtime.” He did have a good point. Though, the closest park was a good way away. They would have time to get there, with Dameian goofing off, and have to turn around and come back to school.

“Not a wise choice.” Ichirou shook his head. He watched the two in front of him, Dameian being a pain in Leon’s ass and Leon trying to get Dameian off his case about the pimple. The rang and the boys were the first ones in and to the classroom where they sat down at their desks, still in the same order.

Ichirou was turned around listening to Leon go on about the new sports score in the paper today when one of the girls walked passed them to her desk. Ichirou licked his lips, his mouth getting watery and Dameian was grinning like a fool, baring his fangs. Leon stopped to look at them. “What’s wrong with you two?”

“Nothing.” Ichirou looked at him and swallowed for the third time already. Leon gave him a look like he didn’t believe him. So, Ichirou moved closer to him and whispered in his ear. “Cadance is on her time.”

Leon looked at Ichirou with disgust and shook his head at Dameian, who didn’t seem to care that his fangs were extended. “Man, you guys. Get a hold of yourself. That’s gross.”

Hayden and Ryoji walked into class together. Hayden had been living with Ryoji ever since the incident with the pill-popping and it was showing. Hayden didn’t wear his usual t-shirt with white strips or his light blue jeans, he wore darker clothes, even Ryoji stopped wearing his brown slacks and white button-up shirts. Though, he still wore a tie, just loosely around his neck, and decided on more of a gothic punk style. Ichirou had tried to talk to Hayden, but since the beginning of sixth grade, Hayden barely said anything to him now. Something happened and it seemed Hayden became darker since leaving the home of his adopted parents.

Hayden sat at the desk beside Ichirou and Ryoji sat at the desk behind Hayden. “Whoa, someone is sure bleeding something heavy.” He was loud about it too, as Ichirou and Dameian kept their mouths shut, Ryoji didn’t.

Candance, who was sitting at the desk in front of Ichirou, turned her head to glare at Ryoji. Ryoji looked at her and flicked his tongue out in her direction a few times. She huffed in anger and turned right back around in her desk. “You know they make tampons, right? It covers the smell more than just letting it free flow out of you.” Ryoji grinned, teasing Cadance.

Not being one to let Ryoji get away with teasing, Cadance stood up, slammed her hands on her desk and walked over to Ryoji, and slapped him across the face. “You are such a pervert. All of you Vampires are.” And she looked at Ichirou, Dameian, and even Darius, who looked at her with shock. She grabbed her backpack and stormed out of the classroom.

“Holy, I was just giving her some advice. She didn’t need to get her panties all tied up.” Ryoji joked as Hayden nodded his head. The innocent shy Hayden Ichirou knew was no more, it was like the Angel was trying to become a bad boy, especially since living with Ryoji.

Just then their teacher walked into the room, not looking impressed at all. He walked over to his desk, slammed his books on his desk as his desk faced the class instead of off to the side. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but keep your words and thoughts to yourself. This is supposed to be a respectful class, not one that picks on each other for whatever reason.” The teacher glared towards Ryoji. “You enter high school next year, and you are supposed to act like mature adults.”

“Yes, Mr. Reed.” The whole class said as if they were all programmed robots.

“Good, now I hope you all have finished and completed your homework. We have a pop quiz about the homework you were given yesterday.” The whole class groaned as Mr. Reed passed out the pop quiz he had already for them to fill out.

Ichirou looked down at the questions, he read through them first. He way already deciding on what to put down for answers when he ran across one of the questions. It was History and Ichirou remembered quite clearly that this question wasn’t apart of the History homework they took home yesterday.

“Mr. Reed, you ask a question here about The Black Death that took over Europe, but last night we had to read up on Genghis Khan. The two events are separate from each other.” Ichirou raised his hand but didn’t wait for an acknowledgment before speaking. “Genghis Khan reign was from 1206 to 1227. The Black Death didn’t come into effect until the late 1300s in Europe.”

The teacher, Mr. Reed, looked at a copy of the pop quiz he had given to the students. “You are correct, Ichirou. Class, just do what you can on the test, skipping the History. The rest is fine.”

Ichirou just started to get to work on completing the pop quiz with the answers he had already decided in his head to fill out when he was hit on the back of the neck with a spitball. He brushed it off and looked behind him towards Ryoji. “Nerd,” Ryoji whispered, laughing to himself, Hayden was even trying to snuff out his giggle.

“Real mature, guys.” Ichirou rolled his eyes and got right back to work. He couldn’t help it, he couldn’t help that he knew things before they even learned about them in school. The knowledge was just there already. He stopped caring a while ago about being smart. Though, how he knew the information before he read about it was still a mystery to him. It wasn’t about having a special ability.

Finishing up, Ichirou glanced around and noticed everyone was still writing, guess they struggled to remember what they should have been doing for homework last night. He set his head down on his desk and waited until the teacher was ready to teach the class.

* * *

After their recess break, the boys in the seventh grade were ushered into the sixth-grade class. The sixth-grade class had only three other girls in their class, Eliza and Lexi included, but they were off to Gym class with the seventh-grade girls. Of course, each class had nine students, so the boys from the seventh grade could fill up the other three desks, though, Ichirou, Leon, and Dameian always went for the three chairs around a round table. That left the three open desks for Ryoji, Hayden, and Darius to take.

Today was like any other day in Health class, the teacher brought out a TV, and put on a short movie about the body or life, whichever seemed to be the theme for the day. The boys were given a questionnaire to fill out either during or after the movie.

Ichirou, which his memory of knowledge and have already done this questionnaire last year, he filled it out as the teacher explained. “Today, we will be learning more about the reproductive system of a female. It can be a bit graphic, but you are all mature boys and I hope you will keep your comments to yourself.” The teacher started the short video.

Ichirou had finished, with every detail the questions had asked and put his pencil down. Leon grabbed his paper and started copying off of Ichirou’s sheet. Ichirou didn’t care, he knew the questionnaire counted for a mark and they had to use their questionnaires for tests, so he was helping his friend study for their test.

Of course, the videos they showed in the class were older style videos, they mostly covered on the human body, nothing about Angels or Vampires. Ichirou also found out they were missing a lot of key details, such as how a male on this island was able to get impregnated. Ichirou was kind of glad for being born on the mainland, he missed the extra reproduced organ that came from a male born on the island. That meant Ichirou could never get pregnant, he was glad for that.

Though, they never covered that when they watched these videos. Ichirou only knows of this because of his old babysitter’s college textbooks. He learned from her books, that seemed to be more updated than these films with human actors and only talking about the human body.

After the video, the teacher shut off the TV and had everyone hand their papers in. “Alright, class lets go through the video. Females have an organ called a?”

“Uterus.” Called out one of the boys from the sixth-grade class.

“That is right. That is one of the answers.” The teacher walked to the chalkboard and chalked out what a uterus looked like. “What are these tubes called?”

“Fallopian,” Darius called out.

“Correct, and they are attached to?” The teacher looked at the class, and no one spoke.

Before the teacher could open her mouth again, Ichirou called out. “Ovaries.”

“Excellent. Now once a month…” The teacher started to go through the process of what happens to women every month and asked the class for the answers to her questions.

Ichirou turned to look outside the classroom window, it was better than listening to the teacher going through everything they just learned from the video. He was annoyed because even asking Niko about what they did in Health class in high school, he learned it was an optional class to take and not a lot of students went to the class because it was just like learning from these Health classes. Easy grade if you remembered to save all your paperwork from this class.

“Ichirou. Ichirou.” The teacher called out to him, which Leon nudged Ichirou to snap out of it. Ichirou blinked at Leon, Leon pointed to the teacher and Ichirou turned to face the teacher. “This is an important class for you to take and to remember the stuff you learned in this class for the rest of your life. I suggest you take it a little bit more seriously.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “You only talk about humans and even then you only discuss what happens between a man and a woman. You realize this city has more gay couples than straight couples. Judging by the year of those videos, gay coupling wasn’t exactly a big thing to teach in school either. So why am I learning about humans and straight coupling when the world isn’t like that.”

“Well, this is just the basic guideline for everyone to follow and understand.” The teacher stood up, trying to impress Ichirou. “We need to learn the basics so that we understand the operation and understanding of our own bodies.”

“Okay, then you explain to me the reproductive system of a male. Not just any male, I mean, a male that was born on this island. You know exactly what I am talking about.” Ichirou narrowed his eyes at the teacher.

“I’m not allowed to disclose that information, Ichirou. They want everyone to be as normal as possible so that the function of their bodies doesn’t decide who they are.” The teacher sternly told Ichirou.

“See, I was born on the mainland, so my body isn’t like everyone else’s bodies who were born on this island.” Ichirou stood up. “My body reproduction system is the replica of the male body in those videos. Though, you are making every male in this room believe that their bodies are exactly like that when it’s a lie and you know it. How do you feel lying to your students?”

“Ichirou, sit down. We are not discussing this. It has nothing to do with this class.” The teacher raised her voice at Ichirou. Ichirou walked up to the teacher, almost standing in height of the teacher in front of him.

“Not till you start teaching properly,” Ichirou smirked at the teacher. “Stop lying and teach us about everything. Especially what the supernatural powers of this island has done to the male species on this island.”

“Ichirou, get out of my class right now. You have no say in what we teach to our students. We are only allowed to give the basic guidelines, nothing more. Keep your mouth shut and sit down or go to the principal’s office.”

“Gladly.” Ichirou snorted at the teacher, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he left the classroom. He walked down the hallway, passed the gymnasium to the office, where he sat down on the chair in front of the secretary's desk.

“I wonder what you could have done to bring yourself into here?” The secretary joked. “I haven’t seen you in a few years, so I know you are not a trouble maker.”

“I’m bored of Health class and all the false information they teach in the school.” Ichirou retorted. “Are you going to get the principal and tell him I’m here for making a scene in Health class?”

“The principal is in his office, and right now, he has nothing serious to be involved in, so go on in.” The secretary waved Ichirou towards the office.

Ichirou got up and knocked on the door, waiting till he heard the guff sound of the older man inside he could enter. Ichirou regretted it. Opening the door, he was hit with the scent of arousal and he looked at the principal, who was rubbing sanitizer on his hands. Ichirou shook his head and didn’t open his mouth.

“What do I owe the pleasure of you coming into my office, Ichirou? You haven’t been the cause of many fights and you haven’t punched any teachers yet, so what is your issue?” The older man sat in his office chair with his leg over his other knee.

“Health class. They don’t teach everything us kids should know.” Ichirou groaned as he tried hard to cover his nose with his hand, but still talk to the older man without disrespecting him.

The principal grabbed a big binder off his desk. “Let me look at the curriculum of what is supposed to be taught in class before I let you explain yourself.” He flipped the pages to what was classified as the Health class subject and was reading through it. “What is it you were learning about? That will help my search.”

“The reproductive system,” Ichirou mumbled, he didn’t want to be in this room, just as much as he didn’t want to be lied to in Health class.

“Oh, yes. The whole curriculum is about the male and female reproductive system, explaining how a male's body works and how a female's body works, up until the birth of a child. What’s the issue with that? Is it too graphic for your class to understand?”

“Does it say anything about the male’s extra reproduction system, because clearly that’s not being taught at all,” Ichirou watched the principal skim through the page he was on. “I’m not even going to go into the puberty classes we had, I should have put up a big stink then, but now I’m just getting tired of being lied to.”

“Oh, yes puberty class. I remember Hayden coming to me about that, saying there was nothing about Angels in the puberty baseline, making him feel excluded for the teachings.” The principal looked at Ichirou. “And if it’s the reproductive system about a man having the ability to give birth, that’s not mentioned as a requirement to teach.”

“So, basically we have to learn about straight couplings and get lied to about our bodies. Well, not my body, but everyone in class acts like they don’t even know they could get pregnant at some point in their lives if they were apart of a gay coupling.” Ichirou was starting to realize he was making a big fuss over nothing, it had nothing to do with him.

“Sorry to say, but that is the truth. Children aren’t plenty here on this island.” The principal shrugged his shoulders. “It’s actually up to the parents to teach their children about the facts of life that aren’t taught in school.”

Ichirou listened to the principal. “So, is that why my father has been pushing since I was about nine years old to have a sex talk?” Why he asked the principal that, he would know.

“Well, that is very early. It is expected of the parents to teach their children when they are fourteen years of age. Though recently a doctor decided to hold a seminar that parents can take their children to, so they can learn about themselves. It usually goes out in the mail to every child that turns fourteen in that year. Though, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t need to go to that because you already know so much about everything that has to do with the body.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I know way more than you would imagine. I’ve seen the inside of a male’s body after he had given birth and that all I need to know right there.”

“Well, then you understand more then your peers will ever understand until they experience childbirth.” The principal joked. “Now, you don’t seem to want to continue doing this Health class, I could sign you out of it if you like. Though, you would have to spend your time in the office, doing whatever homework you have.”

“Really? It’s that easy to get out of it?” Ichirou blinked at the principal. “Just like that, you will sign me out of learning?”

“Well, I know the Health class is the same one you took last year, so it’s not like you would be missing anything, you just get a spare hour to complete your homework.” The principal was working on his computer, opening files, and typing.

“Okay, I could use that extra hour.” Ichirou accepted, who wouldn’t accept a free hour in school just to catch up on homework that became a daily thing.

“I knew you would. Mr. Reed has always given out homework by the book loads to his class. Parents have complained about it, but there isn’t anything we can do about it. Mr. Reed is in every right to assign students homework.” The principal typed out and with a click of the mouse, something started to print out of the computer. “Here, take this is one to your Health teacher, so they know you wouldn’t be attending the class anymore and that you will be coming to the office.” The principal got up from his chair and walked over to a filing cabinet and opened it up. “It’ll put a copy in your school records so it’s clear.”

Ichirou got up, looking at the paper in his hand. He was getting out of Health class just like that. He was amazed it was so simple. “Thank you, sir.”

“No need, now get out of here.” The older man opened the door for Ichirou and Ichirou walked out of the office. Ichirou thought this was going to turn out with him getting into trouble, but instead, the principal helped him out. The man was more understanding since Kojima was no longer attending this school.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underage drinking and partying

“Come on, man. It’s going to be fun. Just you see.”

Ichirou was in the classroom, on a Friday getting ready to take all the homework he had home with him in his backpack. A few days ago, he had gotten himself out of Health class, but that class didn’t give homework. He was able to finish one subject during the break he had, but it still meant he had other subjects to finish at home.

Right now, Leon was trying to get Ichirou to come over to his house tonight. Strange. Ichirou had never been invited to his friend’s house, he had only every invited his friends over for game day parties when there was an important sports game on TV.

“Why do you want me to spend the night at your place, all of a sudden?” Ichirou looked hard at his friend.

“Because I realized I never invited you over and only Dameian and Darius have been to my house. I think we should take our friendship to the next level. I’ve been to your place lots of time.” Leon wasn’t kidding about that. He was actually being serious with Ichirou coming over tonight.

Ichirou sighed. “Fine, only if my father allows it.” Leon handed Ichirou a piece of paper with his address on it.

“You won’t be disappointed,” Leon called out to him as he rushed off to catch up with Dameian and Darius. They walked to and from school together, lived blocks apart from each other, but still.

Ichirou stuffed the paper in his pocket and grabbed his backpack putting it over one shoulder and headed out to the bus. He was too wrapped up in why Leon wanted him to come over tonight. Why tonight? What was so special about tonight?

It didn’t matter once he walked into the condominium and seen his father and Mizuki inside. Yuriel raced over and gave Mizuki a hug and Eliza huffed, walking down the hall to her bedroom and slamming the door. Ichirou still hadn’t figured out what her issue was. She was always happy at school, but when she came home she avoided everyone like the plague.

“Ichirou, you got more homework,” Kazayuki called out from the kitchen, already starting preparations for supper.

“Yeah, though…” Ichirou trailed off when he stuffed his hand in his pocket and pulled out the paper Leon had given him. “Leon wants me to come over to his place tonight. Like seriously, I thought he was going to attach himself to me till I said I would, but I have homework.”

“Ichirou, it’s a Friday night. You can always do your homework on Sunday.” Mizuki looked over at Ichirou, as Yuriel was still hugging him. “Besides, you never get out to see your friends out of school, unless you invite them here.”

“Mizuki’s right. Get out, live a little. Don’t do anything I would do, though.” Kazayuki chuckled as Mizuki glared at him. “What? He doesn’t need to go the same route I went.”

Ichirou rolled the idea in his head. “Fine, but what do I take with me? Just clothes right, as if I’m going on tour?” Mizuki nodded his head. “Okay, but I should probably shower first, right? I don’t want to ask to have a shower there if I don’t feel comfortable doing it.”

“Ichirou, just go do what you need to do to get ready. Don’t overthink it.” Kazayuki smirked at his son’s nervous behavior. Ichirou took the suggestion and dashed off to his room. “You’d think he was going out on a date,” Kazayuki told Mizuki.

“I heard that!” Called out Ichirou from his bedroom as he started packing up his clothes for a one night stay. He wasn’t going to be staying there any longer than a night, he hoped. He grabbed a clean towel for himself before going to the bathroom, he opened the door to see Eliza sitting on the toilet. “Shit, sorry.” He quickly closed it. Though, even though it was for a second, his mouth started to water something bad. He was hungry, hungry for blood and he didn’t understand it.

Ichirou walked to the kitchen and opened up the fridge door and grabbed out a blood package and started sucking on it.

“I thought you were going to shower,” Mizuki asked Ichirou, looking at him slightly confused.

“I was going to but I opened the door and Eliza was in there. I should have knocked first.” Ichirou sounded like he was confused. Then he realized he had just sucked back the whole blood package a bit too fast, but he was still hungry for blood.

“You walked in on Eliza.” Mizuki looked up at Kazayuki and got up to go find Eliza, as Yuriel stood there.

“It’s the smell of the blood, right?” Yuriel asked, climbing up on the stool.

Kazayuki nodded his head, before turning to Ichirou. “Don’t look so confused. I’m sure you’ve been around girls in your class who have started their time. Eliza is on her time, you're just overreacting, Ichirou.”

Now it made sense. The special occasion supper, the strange attitude he got from Eliza, Eliza hiding in her room more. It made sense. Ichirou could calm himself down now. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Well, a woman’s business is that, a woman’s business.” Yuriel shrugged his shoulders. “Eliza didn’t want anyone to know about it. Though, mama told daddy but didn’t tell you, because Mizuki bought a product that would hide her scent from you so you wouldn’t know. Though, don’t worry, Ichirou. When I get my time, I’ll tell you so you aren’t out of the loop.” He smiled at Ichirou, making Ichirou remember again that his brother was a hermaphrodite. How he could forget something so personal to his brother so easily was a mystery.

“Ah, thanks.” Ichirou laughed lightly and ran his hand through Yuriel’s golden blond hair. Strange, Yuriel didn’t have black hair or brown hair and didn’t have red eyes or brown eyes. Just golden blond hair with blue eyes, making him look more like an Angel than anything else. “Father, I’m going to shower in the master, okay?”

Kazayuki nodded his head. “You can shower in there, just clean up after you're done.” He called out to Ichirou, who rolled his eyes. He didn’t get what his father was talking about.

After the shower, quiet supper with just the four of them, as Eliza chooses to stay in her room. Ichirou wanted to apologize to Eliza, but Mizuki told Ichirou to just leave her alone. Seems Eliza wanted to keep it from the family, but now everyone knew so she was a little upset about it. Ichirou grabbed his overnight backpack from his room, though even though Mizuki told him to leave her alone, Ichirou still wrote a little message to Eliza.

‘Sorry, Eliza. I should have knocked. I’ll knock from now on.’

Just a small message was all he could leave her. Though he knew Eliza was going to be emotional now, he didn’t leave any other message. He wanted to tell her he was leaving for the night, but she probably would have figured that out later, or Mizuki already told her. He walked to the door and got his converse shoes on, just as his father came out of the master bedroom wearing a proper t-shirt with sleeves. His father never wore a shirt with sleeves.

“Hey, I’m taking you over there and if I have to meet parents, I have to look a little decent,” Kazayuki explained the reason. Though, Ichirou would have told him he shouldn’t go through Mizuki’s clothes because the t-shirt did seem a little tight.

“We taking the RX-3?” Ichirou asked as he opened the door and stepped out.

“Yeah, I’m not showing up on a motorcycle. That would show I am too dangerous of a parent” Kazayuki chuckled as he grabbed the key and they both headed down the elevator to the parking garage. They own three vehicles, well Kazayuki owns two, and Mizuki owned his car.

“So, when I get my license, do I get the RX-3, or do I get the motorcycle?” Ichirou smirked, knowing his father wouldn’t give up the motorcycle so easily. He did build it himself, once he moved in with Mizuki and built it from the ground up.

“How about you let me think about it? I might just give you the RX-3 if I don’t crash it.” Kazayuki chuckled as Ichirou and he climbed into the car and he started up the rotary engine, the sound was so majestic, and even the whistle from the turbo gave it some class, besides it being a classic car.

Ichirou had given Kazayuki the address earlier, so Kazayuki knew where they were going and the road past the school before going down a few streets, till Kazayuki pulled up to the house. “This looks like the place,” Kazayuki said, as he let Ichirou get out of the car.

Leon opened the door and came out to greet Ichirou. “Hi, Mr. Matsumoto. Cool tattoos.” The first thing anyone noticed about his father was his arms. “My moms inside, if you would like to meet her.”

Kazayuki looked at Ichirou, and Ichirou gave him a nod. Kazayuki wasn’t worried about Ichirou, but Ichirou knew it was polite for the parents to meet. Even when his friends came to his place, the parents only met Mizuki because Kazayuki felt he would scare the parents.

They walked up to the house and Leon opened the door for them. “Mom, Mr. Matsumoto is here, same with Ichirou.” He grinned at them as he let them into the house.

Leon always had green hair, Ichirou didn’t know if it was a dye job or his natural color. Though, seeing his mom standing at the top of the landing to the front door, Ichirou clued in it was a genetic thing. Leon’s mom had green hair and brown eyes like Leon, though her hair was long, down past her waist, even though it was done up in a ponytail. She was even wearing scrubs, which gave Ichirou the impression that she worked at the hospital.

“Oh, hello there. I’m Mandy.” She came down the steps and offered her hand to Kazayuki. Being old fashion, Kazayuki took her hand with a bow and kissed the top of her hand, barely. “Oh, my.” She started to blush.

“I’m Kazayuki. It is a pleasure to meet you. I just hope the boys won’t be too much for you tonight.” Kazayuki looked at her, with a gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t be a problem. You see, I work tonight at the hospital.” Ichirou called it. “And tonight is a really late shift, so I was hoping Leon would have invited a friend over to stay with him tonight. Usually, it’s Dameian, but Dameian had other plans this weekend. I hope you don’t mind the kids staying the night here by themselves.” She had a blush on her face, but her eyes were determined that they would be fine at home alone, trying to give Kazayuki that security.

“I have no problem with it. Ichirou’s stayed at home a lot, so he knows what to do if there is ever an emergency. I’m only a phone call away too, boys. Remember that.” Kazayuki didn’t see a problem with it at all.

“Oh, thank Heavens. I know a lot of parents don’t allow their kids to stay without a parent at home with the kids.” She seemed relieved by this.

“Well, I’ll let you go. Nice meeting you, Mandy. Don’t work too hard, and boys, don’t get into trouble.” Kazayuki gave them a wink before he left. Mandy closed the door. Leon pulled Ichirou up the stairs and pushed him on the couch.

Ichirou was confused by this action, his shoes were still on his feet. Mandy came up the stairs and started taking her scrubs off. “Alright, twerp. That’s 20 bucks.” Ichirou watched her take off her scrubs to show she was wearing a mini shirt and leather bra-style top with leather tassels hanging down and around.

Leon pulled $20 from his wallet and hand it over to her. “I keep telling you, you’d make a killing pretending to be other kids' mom.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “I make a killing off my brother. I don’t need to make other kids broke.” She turned her eyes to Ichirou. “Sorry about lying to your father. Really, it’s always been just me and Leon, I was still a teenager when he was a baby and our parents left for the mainland. I’ve raised him and I work at a club downtown to keep this roof over our heads.”

“You know, you didn’t need to lie to my father, he actually put on a shirt for once with sleeves in case he had to meet your parents. People look at him and think bad boy to the max. Tattoos, is in a band, rides a motorcycle, the whole nine yards.” Ichirou chuckled, Leon set this up just for him and it made him feel so much better about coming here.

“See, not everyone has completely stuck up parents,” Mandy told Leon, pushing his shoulder. “Anyways, you kids have fun tonight. I’m out.” She put on a pair of heels that Ichirou wondered how she could walk in them. Then put a trench coat and grabbed her keys, heading out the door.

Leon waved goodbye to her and looked at Ichirou. “So, that’s my sister or guardian. If I didn’t pay her to stay, she would have been long gone by now, but I wanted you to meet her. Just so you don’t question my lifestyle.”

“Your lifestyle? You have a life outside of school?” Ichirou was looking at his friend like he was crazy.

“Yes, actually. I do.” Leon waved to Ichirou to follow him down a hallway that had two bedrooms and a bathroom. Leon opened the door to which was his bedroom, filled with football and basketball posters and jerseys. “This right here is from this season.” Leon handed Ichirou a group photo, with a bunch of football players. “We are going to our season-ending party tonight. A lot of people are going to be there.”

Ichirou looked at the picture a bit longer. “These are high school kids. That's Kojima.” He pointed out in the photo.

“Yeah, that’s the football teams together for one photo. They allow seventh-graders on the team, though we don’t get played as much on the field, I got play more than the other seventh graders. Might be because I am human and all.” Leon chuckled. “Well, I’m going to have a quick shower now that you are here and my sister isn’t hogging the bathroom.”

Leon left Ichirou in his room to look at all the sports stuff around the room. Where Ichirou’s rooms was dark, with comic books and a video game system, Leon’s was filled with sports stuff. They were two opposite people, though they seemed to become friends so easily.

Leon came back into his room, completely dried off with a towel around his waist. Ichirou was about to get up and leave, but Leon dropped the towel around his waist to put on boxer shorts, Ichirou decided to just fall back on the bed and look at the ceiling. It’s not like they weren’t both the same gender but seemed to not notice Ichirou was in his room still.

“Hey, are you alright?” Leon looked over at Ichirou. “Your cheeks got a little color in them.” He laughed as he finished getting dressed in jeans and his football jersey.

“Sorry, I’m not used to nudity,” Ichirou said, running a hand through his hair, calming himself down.

“Sorry, I forgot the nerd doesn’t get out much.” Leon teased. “I don’t mean to call you a nerd. I know you have your life at home, just don’t know what you do there though. I never see you out and about.”

“That’s because I’m lazy. I rather stay indoors.” Ichirou chuckled and looked at Leon.

“Well, I will have to tell you. You have a name for yourself. You are the nerd who beat the shit out of Kojima. I promise not to call you a nerd anymore if you go out with me to this party.” Leon held up his hands in surrender.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I get called a nerd by Ryoji and now I’m going to be at a party being called a nerd by other people, is what you are saying?” Leon nodded his head while shrugging his shoulders. “Whatever. I don’t care if I’m a nerd.”

“Bad boy nerd. That’s what we should call you. You’re tough and smart.” Leon joked, pulling out a pair of socks from a drawer and a pair of shoes from under the bed.

“Okay, jocky. I won’t give you my answers no more if you keep it up.” Ichirou shook his fist at Leon.

“No, I need them to pass.” Leon faked cried before the two of them laughed about it.

As soon as Leon had his shoes on, Ichirou said he wanted to have a snack before leaving, so Leon had some toast, while Ichirou drank the blood package he brought with him. Leon didn’t get weirded out watching Ichirou suck the blood back, he was amazed at how fast Ichirou could suck. After the little snack, the two boys headed out the door, and Leon lead them quite a few blocks away from Leon’s house.

Leon walked up to the overly huge size house and rang the doorbell, there was already music blaring from within, that Ichirou didn’t think anyone would hear, but the door opened to another jock looking guy in a football jersey. “Hey, Leon’s here!” He shouted out and that’s when Ichirou noticed the smell of alcohol in the air and the red cup the jock was holding had alcohol in it too.

“Leon the beast is here! Right now!” Another voice was heard from inside, as the first jock let Leon and Ichirou inside. Ichirou was looking around there were stairs to the second floor, to the right a living room with the TV playing football on it. To the left was what could have been a sitting room but was turned into a dance floor with a few girls already dancing.

“Hey, who let the nerd in?” Ichirou turned his head and seen Toki stand there. Though, where was Kojima? Toki must have gotten some balls to speak for himself since leaving elementary school.

“Back off, Toki. He’s my buddy and I brought him with me.” Leon spoke clear. “The nerd is with me, you got a problem, you take it up with me, not him.” He warned everyone who stopped what they were doing and turned towards him. Most of them just shrugged their shoulders and continued with what they were doing, a few cheered Leon’s name, and Toki scowled at Ichirou but turned away. “Let’s get us some drinks.”

Nodding his head, Ichirou followed Leon towards the kitchen through the living room, with his hands in his pocket. Leon grabbed to beer cans and handed one to Ichirou. Ichirou never drank before, the smell of alcohol warned him to stay away. Though, he didn’t want to feel like a loser that he was already feeling like. With one hand, can resting against his hip, his other hand in his pocket still, he popped the tab open and brought the can to his lips. He pretended to take a big sip, but the reality was he let the liquid hit his upper lip so he could at least taste the beverage before drinking it.

It was an awful taste, but he smirked at Leon. “So, is this a party, or does it get better?”

“Trust me, Ichirou, it gets much better, this is just the start, team members show up with their dates and then guests come in. You won’t be able to walk around here without rubbing against someone.” Leon told Ichirou. “Now bottoms up, drink fast.” Leon held out his beer can and Ichirou butted his can to Leon and watched Leon down the whole beer. For a twelve-year-old, he was sure acting like an adult. Or was it just because Ichirou grew up with party animals that he didn’t realize they were acting like children and not adults?

Leon was eyeing Ichirou’s beer can, so Ichirou knew what he had to do. He tipped the can back and instead of drinking it down in big gulps, he sucked back the liquid quickly. Leon grinned like a fool.

“Man, I think I know what your drinking game is going to be?” Leon seemed so proud. “I’m going to set you up with a game later, so don’t drink too much now.” He grabbed them each another beer. He had no idea what Leon was talking about. He was only thirteen and this would be his first party ever.

Players and guests piled into the house, Ichirou managed to lose Leon somewhere, so Ichirou just sat on the couch in the dance floor area. He had finished his second beer but didn’t dare get himself another. He wasn’t feeling any different, but he didn’t want to be drunk either. Just then Niko, dressed colorfully in what Ichirou could guess was raving gear, bright lime green colored short shorts, a tight crop top of white with black suspenders, blue and yellow leg and arm-warmers and his light reddish hair had fake dreads of lime green and blue. He had pulled another guest with him to the dance floor and was starting to dance against the other.

The other person was a jock, one of the football players and he was enjoying Niko dancing against him. Ichirou could only smirk and shake his head. He could smell the thick scent of alcohol as well of a hint of arousal in the air, those the arousal seemed to come from everyone, but was faint as everyone was drinking and getting drunk.

Niko noticed Ichirou and waved him over, as Niko had his back to the jock and grinding his ass against the jock’s groin. Ichirou shook his head, Niko smiled sweetly, so Ichirou sighed with a smirk on his face and walked over to Niko. Niko grabbed Ichirou’s hips and pulled him in closer. “Is this your first party?” He asked Ichirou.

“Yeah, it is.” Ichirou was letting Niko sway his hips for him. He didn’t dance nor knew what he was supposed to do.

“I can tell. Put your hand on my hip.” Ichirou followed Niko’s instructions and put his hand on Niko’s hips. Niko moved his hands from Ichirou’s hips up around his neck and locked his hands together behind Niko’s neck. Ichirou just continues to sway his hips the way Niko was making him do before, as Niko kept sticking out his butt and grinding it against the jock. The jock didn’t even seem to care that Ichirou was there sandwiching Niko between them. “I’m guessing you came with Leon?”

Ichirou nodded his head. He knew Niko was slightly taller than him, but with Niko dancing the way he was Ichirou was now taller than the sixteen-year-old. “I came with him, but he disappeared.”

“Not far, he’s on the back porch with two girls. They know Leon is only twelve but that doesn’t stop them from making out with him. He always attracts the fourteen-year-old girls to make out with him at these parties.” Niko was telling Ichirou and that’s when Ichirou concluded that he must be a nerdy loner, staying at home all the time. Maybe, he needed this, he needed to get out. Though he was only thirteen and the mainland’s rules about minors still told him he shouldn’t be here.

“That’s funny. I’m seeing and hearing a new side of Leon. Never thought he was a party animal.” Ichirou chuckled, smirk still on his face.

“Oh, Ichirou. You are so innocent.” Niko brushed his hand against Ichirou’s cheek. “We can change that tonight.” Niko tilted his head and brought his face to Ichirou’s and locked lips with Ichirou. Ichirou was caught off guard for a second, till he closed his eyes and let Niko lead the kiss. He saw enough people making out, that he just knew he had to move his lips against the others. His other hand went to Niko’s hips and he just had the reaction to pull Niko close to him, their lips still locked together. Ichirou caught Niko off guard by pulling him in close, but then he started to melt against Ichirou. Their tongue met and Niko mewed out softly as Ichirou took control of the kiss now.

“Whoa, take it upstairs! Any room on the right is yours!” Ichirou could hear someone shouting at them as he and Niko parted. Niko looked breathless, with pinkish cheeks. Ichirou smirked with his dark red eyes showing a hint of passion. Niko smiled sweetly and released Ichirou.

“He’s only thirteen,” Niko called out and winked at Ichirou. “Come on, take me to the kitchen.” Ichirou shrugged and offered his arms for Niko to take. Wait? Where did this action come from? Where ever it came from it made Niko giggle and placed his hands on Ichirou’s arm and Ichirou lead them to the kitchen.

“I want a Shirley Temple,” Niko told the jock behind the counter and the jock turned around and it was Kojima, a burly Kojima, standing there. Ichirou remembers Kojima being a bigger built kid back when he beat him up, but Ichirou now felt small compared to him.

“I got beer and hard shit, no fruity drinks.” Kojima looked at Niko, who stood out more than Ichirou, which Ichirou was thankful for. Though, it was only for a moment. “What would you…” His green eyes reached Ichirou’s dark red ones and narrowed. “What the fuck are you doing here, punk?”

Ichirou smirked, he was wondering when he would come face to face with Kojima again, though he never came for another drink, and seems like Kojima was hanging out in the kitchen. “I’m enjoying myself, but you shouldn’t ignore your first customer.” Ichirou pulled Niko closer to him, by wrapping his arm around Niko’s waist, making Niko giggle.

“Oh, I totally forgot. I’m sorry, Ichirou.” Niko apologized, after realizing the tension Kojima was giving off because Ichirou was here. Ichirou was completely calm, his body wasn’t even tense. “I’ll have a shot of rum and Ichirou will have a shot of vodka.”

Ichirou raised a brow as Kojima growled and turned around to make their drinks, even putting the mix in the cups for them. Though Ichirou noticed something, Kojima had put something in a small plastic bag back into his pocket. He turned around and handed them their drinks, Ichirou could notice a gleam in his eyes, as if he was expecting something.

Ichirou picked up the rum cup and took a sip. “Sorry, Niko. I don’t do vodka.”

Niko blinked. “Oh, I didn’t think you had a preference. Sorry, I guess that’s means I’ll drink the vodka.” He went to grab the drink but Kojima took it away from him.

“I’ll make you another rum, don’t worry about it, Niko.” Kojima smiled at Niko, before turning around again and making another drink, he turned around and handed it to Niko. “There you go.”

“Thanks a bunch.” Niko gave him a wink and this time lead Ichirou out od the house to the back yard. It was a bit cooler out, then in the house and quieter. “You noticed it too, didn’t you?” He turned to Ichirou.

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of the drink. Rum didn’t taste that bad, unlike the beer he had earlier. “What were you going to do about, let me drink it?”

“No, I saw what he did and I was going to knock the drink out of your hand. Though, I guess that would have been messy. Good thing you took my drink instead.” Niko giggled, then he pointed to the side behind Ichirou. Ichirou turned around to see Leon, with two girls, passed out. “Guess he can’t handle himself.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I’m supposed to be staying at his place tonight. I guess that means I’ll have to walk him back home.” He chuckled. Though, he gave Niko his drink, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked over to Leon and kicked his foot. “Hey, Leon. Leon?” Leon was stirring awake slightly, but he was still out of it. “Leon, your sister is here.”

“Whoa, what?” Leon sat up so fast the two girls beside had slipped from his arms and hit their heads on the patio. “Oh, Ichirou. Wait. She’s not here, is she?”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, just wanted to see how you react. You know there is a party going on and you are passed the fuck out.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry, Ichirou.” Leon rubbed his eye as the two girls got up and walked away without a word from either of them. Niko walked over and handed Ichirou his drink.

“Now, that you are up. I think you kids should go home.” Niko said as he looked at a watch from under his arm-warmers. “It’s already 12:30 am.”

“Yeah, you are right. I usually leave by midnight.” Leon stood up and stretched out.

Ichirou looked between the two. “Is it just me, or is this party still going on and we’re leaving?” He shook his head.

“Well, Leon is young and we let him party with us, but if he is still around the good stuff doesn’t come out. All the other junior players have left.” Niko was looking anywhere, but Ichirou.

“Drugs,” Ichirou mumbled. “Why should it matter if he’s here or not? He wants to party like the big boys, then he should learn to party like the big boys.” He gave Niko a mischievous smirk.

“No, Ichirou. I know how your father feels about drugs, and I think it’s in the best interest that you both leave. Really.” Niko sounded like he was pleading with Ichirou.

Ichirou shook his head, he was about to open his mouth when he heard a familiar voice. “Who’s ready to party? I brought the goodies!”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underage drinking, drug use, sexual dancing.

“Who’s ready to party? I brought the goodies!”

Ichirou heard that voice and he knew who it came from, he passed Niko and walked back into the house. He was trying to make his way through the crowd of teenagers to see who came, and he was right. It was Ryoji and Hayden who walked into the house.

“Hey, Ryoji. Where is that crazy-ass brother of yours?” Ichirou heard someone call out.

“He’s busy,” Ryoji told them and chuckled. Seemed everyone wanted to get in on the action, or rather the goodies that the two brought. Ichirou made his way back outside where Niko was standing there with Leon.

“You knew. You knew Ryoji was going to be here, selling drugs with Hayden.” Ichirou walked up to Niko and got right in his face. What was he angry about? Why did he even care? Ichirou sighed and shook his head. Why was he feeling so angry?

“Ryoji is here? He’s the same age as me.” Leon looked up at Niko for answers. Ichirou stepped away from Niko and run a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down.

“Yes, I knew Ryoji would be here. It’s his foster brother that sells to us kids, but when he isn’t around, Ryoji sells for him with Hayden’s help. Though, Ryoji and Hayden would come even if Ryoji’s foster brother showed up. It’s always been a rule to kick out the elementary kids at parties at midnight.” Niko looked down at the ground. “I knew how close you were to Hayden before Ichirou, but after Hayden went to his foster home, things changed between you.”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, it’s not that. Hayden had gotten close to Ryoji before. I just…” Ichirou ran his hand through his hair again. “I dislike Ryoji. He’s been nothing but an ass to me since Hayden moved in with him.”

“Ichirou, I don’t think you noticed much in school,” Leon spoke up. “Ryan and Ryoji used to be close before school started, then in kindergarten Ryan and Ryoji were close for a bit, till Kojima befriended him. Ryoji felt alone, but he and Ryan would still talk in class. Then you came and changed that, Ryan changed schools and Hayden came. You got close to Hayden and then Ryoji wormed his way into Hayden’s life, since finding out Hayden’s family didn’t want you around Hayden. Ryoji knew he was good to move in because of his parents and his appearance. Ryoji is the one who gave Hayden those drugs, knowing Hayden’s parents didn’t want him around anything like that, Ryoji asked his parents to take Hayden into their home. Then, Hayden became distant with you and you just couldn’t see it till the next year after the break when he ignored you completely.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He got it, Ryoji was angry at Ichirou and was trying to make Ichirou’s life a living hell now. Made perfect sense now. Hayden was probably brainwashed into hate Ichirou. “I’m not going to lose you and Dameian to Ryoji, am I?”

“Lose us to Ryoji, never. The kid always pissed me and Dameian off. Especially, when Darius confessed his liking to Ryoji and Ryoji pushed him away and said he doesn’t like freaks.” Leon shooked his head and stood up. “We were in kindergarten, it wasn’t like he had to be that rude to him.” Leon walked over to Ichirou and put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just go back to my place. We can get drunk there. I have more beer.”

“I want to see the punk go up against the small fry.” Kojima was standing outside the patio door with a cigarette in his mouth. The sixteen-year-old was smoking a cigarette? Well, he could be doing other things, but Ichirou didn’t care.

“Why?” Niko looked up at Kojima. “What’s that going to solve?”

“Nothing, but I want to see Ichirou get his ass kicked, but I also want to see Ryoji get his ass handed to him.” Kojima shrugged his shoulders. “So, it’s a win for me with whoever loses.”

“Ichirou isn’t going to fight him. He doesn’t just fight because he likes to.” Leon told Kojima. “Well, I guess he could fight because he likes to. Though, why should he just because you want him to?”

Niko shook his head, he started to shiver a bit. “Can I go back inside? It’s cold out here. You two can stay, I tried kicking you both out, but someone else can do it.” He moved up to the door where Kojima was blocking it. “Please, move.”

“You just want the drugs,” Kojima asked Niko, though Ichirou couldn’t see Niko’s face, Kojima nodded his head. “Get me a blue one if you can.” He let Niko go through the door.

Ichirou couldn’t believe how much he was learning about people he called his friends at one point or another. First, it was Leon, and now Niko. He shook his head with a smirk.

Kojima looked at the two, dropped his smoke, and put out with his shoe. “So, you want to come back into the party, you have to get through me. I don’t mean fighting me. I mean, you have to do something for me.”

“I’m not fighting Ryoji, just because you want me to. I need a better reason to fight.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest.

“What if I gave you a reason.” Kojima used his finger to tell Ichirou to come over to the patio door, Leon came too. They looked through the window and what they saw was Niko trying to talk to Hayden, as Ryoji was touching Niko’s ass, rubbing it, and trying to slip his hand up under the short shorts. Niko kept slapping Ryoji’s hand away each time, getting laughter out of the others around, and cheerful encouragement for Ryoji to continue. Niko finally got what he wanted from Hayden and glared at Ryoji as he walked away.

“Leon, does Ryoji know about Niko being close to me?” Ichirou asked the other boy, who shook his head. “Good.” Ichirou didn’t even wait for Kojima to move as he slid the door open just to see Niko walking into the kitchen.

“Kojima, I got you two. Hayden knows it for you, so you owe him.” Niko looked at Ichirou. “Sorry, Ichirou but I can’t be near you right now.” He was about to walk away when Ichirou grabbed his arm.

“No, I don’t care anymore. If they make you feel good, then do whatever, but know this, I won’t be attending your funeral.” Ichirou said it was such a deathly tone, even the other people at the kitchen table, who were just playing some poker stopped. Ichirou shot a glare at them and they went back to their poker game. “Now, explain to me what that was all about with you and Ryoji.”

Niko rolled his eyes. “I’m not easy, Ichirou. I act easy, even ask Kojima. He’s the one who looks out for me in school. I like to have fun and be free, but Ryoji is the one who thinks I am easy. Even the whole football team knows I’m not. I’m still a virgin. I just like acting like I know how to have fun.” Niko was being serious with Ichirou.

“It’s true. Some guy tried to grab him and take him away from a prep rally and a few of us on the team like Kojima took out the guy, of course, we were suspended from playing in the game after that.” One of the jock said at the poker table.

Ichirou looked at the jock who spoke, he seemed to have some big muscle tone to him, and even with Kojima’s bigger built body, it was no wonder these guys looked out for Niko, who was smaller in shape and size. “Okay, then answer me this. Why do you guys let Ryoji touch him like that?”

The room got quiet. Niko was looking at the floor, ready to cry at any moment. Leon looked like he was waiting for an answer too, he was curious about it. Then another jock at the poker table spoke up. “Because we can’t do anything to Ryoji, because of his foster brother.”

“Are you guys scare of one person, or is it the drugs?” Ichirou was looking around the room seriously. The anger was growing inside him again, his grip on Niko’s arm tighten.

“Ichirou, please. Let go of me.” Niko slapped his arm, and Ichirou looked back at him, seeing the bruise he left on Niko.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Here.” Ichirou, without thinking, pressed his hand against it and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, Niko was looking at him with shock and then looked at his arm. Niko was a Vampire, he would have healed in an hour or so, but Ichirou healed him without doing a thing.

“You can heal. Just like mama said. He saw you do with Mizuki in the hospital, but I didn’t believe him.” Niko smiled and gave Ichirou a big hug.

“Hey, nerd. Can you heal my knee?” The jock at the poker table said. “It hurts like a bitch since the last game.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I can’t heal just anything, only tissue damage, and even still I have to use the blood that is in the person’s body already to heal any damage. I’m limited to what I can heal because I could kill someone using the blood in their body to heal them.”

“Ouch, that would be a messed up way to die. Hey, my body is fully healed now, but I’m dead due to the lack of blood in my body.” Someone at the poker table said and the others laughed.

The jock moved from the table and came closer to Ichirou. “Seriously, can you see if you can heal it? I’ll drink the blood I lose if I have to.” He looked over at Kojima, who nodded his head. “If I can’t get it healed or in better shape by next season, I’m out. That’s the end of my career, no playing on the mainland for me.”

Ichirou groaned in frustration. “Tell me what I want to know and I’ll heal your stupid knee if I’m able to repair the tissue damage.” Ichirou wasn’t sure if he could repair the knee, he wasn’t a medical expert, nor did he know what type of injury the guy had.

“Okay. It’s not about the drugs. The drugs just keep us happy or keep us motivated. The reason we don’t stop Ryoji from touching Niko is because of Ryoji’s foster brother. He’s bad news. Fifteen years old and he’s already got a criminal record on the mainland, not just for drugs, or stealing. No, for murders. We all seen his rep sheets. We were even warned by our police force here to not get tangled up with him when he transferred here. He’s bad news and if anyone touches Ryoji, they’ve signed their death certificate.” The jock was keeping his voice down, almost whispering it to Ichirou.

Ichirou nodded his head. Kojima helps the jock up on the counter so Ichirou didn’t need to bend down low. The jock was about to roll up his sweats. “No, leave it as is. I don’t need to touch the skin.” Ichirou held out his hand and closed his eyes. He could see the muscle swelling, so close to the bone cartilage in the knee. Ichirou removed his hand and looked up at the jock on the counter. “Your cartilage is torn. And torn like you wouldn’t believe. Cartilage is a tissue, so I can repair it. The amount of your blood it’s going to take is unknown. I’m not an expert with this kind of thing. The first time, I was healing internal bleeding damage to my brother’s mother after he gave birth, though he was receiving blood from a transfusion. That’s soft tissue, this is firm tissue.”

“I got him covered.” Kojima opened the fridge and pulled out two blood packages. “He can drink one now and he can drink the other when you're doing your magic trick.”

Ichirou glared at him. “Want to see a magic trick?” Ichirou was holding his fist in front of his face and using his other hand to turn an imaginary crank, and his middle finger rose towards Kojima.

“Fuck you, punk. Just get to work.” Kojima had a grin on his face, but he still sounded so grumpy to Ichirou. Kojima handed one blood package to the jock, he drank it back, though Ichirou could have done it faster. Then, Ichirou hovered his hand over the jock’s knee and closed his eyes.

Ichirou tried to it fast as possible, but even he felt himself get dizzy, so he had to slow down. Niko must have seen this and grabbed Ichirou’s shoulders to steady him. It was draining for Ichirou, never having to do this on a regular base, his power for healing tissue was there, but not to this extent. His hand started to shake, the vision he was seeing started to go blurry for him. Though he kept on going, going till the damage was repaired and the blood was flowing in its usual pattern, in the veins.

Ichirou opened his eyes and he felt off-balance and almost fell right back into Niko, but another jock was there to catch Ichirou and drag him to sit in a chair at the table. He kept blinking his eyes, he whole world was spinning. That’s when the urge to upchuck came and he covered his mouth and his eyes grew big. Niko had slid the garbage can closer to Ichirou as he retched into it, just in time. Only the once, and all his stomach content had spewed out into the garbage can until nothing was left and he breathed heavily.

Leon came over with some napkins and Ichirou cleaned up his face and hand. “Man, that was a close one, that would have been one hell of a mess to clean up.”

“I’d hate to see him get sick from just drinking,” Kojima commented and some of the guys in the kitchen laughed at his words.

“That was a hell of a cost.” The jock on the counter spoke as he jumped off the counter, making the other guys seem impressed. He did a couple of squats and shuffles and he grinned like a mad dog. “It’s healed. It seriously is healed.”

“Woah, I don’t even care for the stench right now. If that’s the result of Ichirou’s healing, man.” Another guy said. Though, Kojima took the garbage can, handing Ichirou a blood package, and took it outside.

Ichirou looked at the blood package, he didn’t think twice as he bites into it and sucked it back so fast, there were whispers in the kitchen of damns. He gave the blood package to Leon to toss out and sighed. “I’ll kill me. My own special ability will kill me.” He looked at his hand and let out a second sigh.

“Thanks, man. I guess you ain’t such a nerd.” The jock held his hand out for Ichirou to take and Ichirou smirked and took his hand and they gave each other a pat on the back. “Alright, drinks are on me, boys. Give him a double shot.”

Kojima rolled his eyes. “My house, my alcohol, my rules. I paid for this stuff.” That’s when Ichirou’s eyes grew big in surprise. He was standing in Kojima’s house. He was in his enemy's house, though Kojima wasn’t his enemy anymore, he beat him up pretty good. “What? Who do you think owns this house?” Ichirou just shrugged. “I hate you, but you are Niko’s friend so I’ll deal with you. Don’t go getting all buddy with me or I will kick your ass, punk.”

“I’m not going to be buddies with a bully like you. You may have changed since elementary school, but you still hit my sister.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest. Kojima pointed his finger at Ichirou, but Niko put his hands on his hips and Kojima shook his head and started pouring drinking. He did pour a double shot for Ichirou.

“Double-shot, no date rape.” Kojima grinned as he passed out the drinks and handed Ichirou his. “You and Niko are too smart for your own good with your eagle eyes. I just wanted to drug you and kick you out of my house, but you did good, punk.”

“Are you going to stop calling me a punk?” Ichirou looked at Kojima over the rim of his glass.

“Not unless you are going to start dressing like a nerd, punk.” Kojima laughed and Ichirou shook his head. He was going to have to make a better name for himself, but how?

“Hey, if the nerd doesn’t like being called a punk, don’t call the nerd that. He could save you one of these days.” One of the guys called out to Kojima from the poker table, having resumed their game.

“Whoa guys, he hates being called a nerd even more,” Leon said as they all looking towards Ichirou, who had his eyes close, one fist clenched, gritting his teeth.

“What do I got to do around here to get a decent name?” Ichirou mumbled under his breath.

“It just happens. Just do what you do best and the nickname will come.” Niko giggled as he put an arm around Ichirou’s shoulder, their backs were towards the entrance of the kitchen, so they didn’t see Hayden walking in, up to the counter. Though, Hayden saw Leon and smiled.

“Hey, Leon. It’s nice to see you here partying.” Hayden’s voice reached Ichirou’s ears, and he fought the verge to turn around.

Leon gave a nervous smile and a wave. “Hayden. You herewith Ryoji tonight?”

“Sadly, yes. He didn’t want me going along with him, so he sent me with Ryoji instead.” Hayden spoke so casually.

“Here are your drinks,” Kojima said, as he placed them on the counter. Hayden said his thanks and left the kitchen.

“Settle down. Holy, you are tense.” Niko finally spoke once Hayden was gone. He rubbed Ichirou’s arms, trying to calm him down. That wasn’t going to work as Ichirou ran his hand through his hair and calmed easily. “There you go. What happened?”

“He’s an ass. Doesn’t say two shits to me in school, but acts all casual with Leon. If he saw me standing here, he would have ignored me. I know it.” Ichirou growled, then an idea came to his head. “Niko, will you dance and make out with me on the floor again?”

Someone spit out their drink and got the table and cards wet. Leon just about dropped his drink from his hand and Kojima was trying not to cough, but failing to stop himself from it. Niko looked up at Ichirou. “If you wash your mouth out and you kiss me like you did before, I’ll do it again, but you have to dance like you mean it.”

“Upstair, first door on your left, mouth wash behind the mirror,” Kojima spoke out, going to help the poker players clean up the mess on the table. Ichirou nodded his head and left the kitchen through the small walk space beside the staircase and went upstairs. Now he remembers hearing the voice tell him and Niko to take it up stairs to the right. There were three closed doors and one still open. On the left, there was the open door to the bathroom and two other closed doors. The middle door had a sigh of ‘DO NOT ENTER’, that must be Kojima’s bedroom door.

Having washed his mouth and making it back down the stairs, he smelled something as he entered the kitchen. He knew that smell, that was the smell of cannabis being smoked. Though, it was coming through the open window in the kitchen. Ichirou walked out through the patio doors and smirked. Niko, Leon, Kojima, and two others were puffing on a joint.

“Can I have some?” Ichirou asked so casually, that Niko was blinking at him.

“Ichirou, it’s a drug, you know that right?” Niko was trying to be serious.

“I know what it is, I’ve smoked it before.” Ichirou didn’t mean to let the last part out, but he shrugged it off.

“Your father will kill you. You know his idea of drugs.” Niko was warning Ichirou, as one of the jocks passed it to Ichirou, and Ichirou took a couple of puffs before handing it to Niko, as it was his turn to take a toke.

“I know his idea on chemical drugs and I know his idea on herbal drugs. They are opposite of each other.” Ichirou smirked. He wanted to tell Niko he smoked with his father once, but he also didn’t want Niko to tell his mama by accident and then Yomi tells Mizuki and then Mizuki gets mad at Kazayuki. It was their little secret, him and his father.

“Well, fuck. If you’ll smoke weed you're in the same boat as Leon. He won’t pop pills or anything, only smoke from the joint.” Kojima nudged Leon as he took his toke.

“So, we going to do this? You, me, and the dance floor. I’ll try to keep up with you, but you are going to have to go slow.” Ichirou smirked, then he heard some harsh coughing behind him, but Niko giggled.

“Why do you want to do this so badly? You really only got your first kiss from me tonight and you make it seem like your some kind of god of lust.” Niko smiled sweetly, oh that sweet smile with that come here look in his eyes.

“Ryoji wants you, you keep denying him. I show him I have you and that will be a stab to his ego. I think I might like that.” Ichirou told Niko the reason for it, hoping to not get shut down because of it.

Niko nodded his head. “I like that idea.”

“I like it even more because if you get Ryoji riled up it's going to be a fight. I’m going to start placing bets-” Kojima looked at Niko, who gave him a stern look. “-or not. I mean I can just watch and see what happens.”

“Hold on, I wanna go in and get a seat for the action,” Leon said, pushing off the wall and going inside. Ichirou couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend.

The joint was passed to Ichirou and he placed it between his lips and grabbed Niko’s face, Niko opened his mouth, not wanting to get burned by the joint and Ichirou puffed on it well and blew out slowly into Niko mouth. Ichirou pulled back and passed the joint to the next person as Niko stare at Ichirou with desire.

Ichirou had to pause for a moment. What did he just do? Why did it seem like the right thing to do? What was going on with him? These little moments of action scared him, he didn’t know how to explain them or why he did them so naturally. It was scary, but it felt so right. He was going to have to embrace them when they happened.

“Let’s go!” Niko excitedly grabbed Ichirou’s hand and dragged him inside. Ichirou grabbed his drink cup when he passed by and some of the guys whistled at him as he headed through the living room with Niko, the game playing on the TV still, and some guest and football players talking about the game. Then Ichirou was pulled gently, he downed the rest of his drink and Niko took the empty cup and set it aside as he moved them to the dance floor where few girls were dancing to the song playing and Ichirou spotted Ryoji and Hayden in the dining room off towards the back of the house. He didn’t look at them directly as Niko turned to him and gave him that sweet smile again.

It was some kind of techno rave song playing on the stereo and Ichirou let Niko lead him first, Ichirou swayed his hips the way Niko had made him before, then he let the music take control of him, the high he was feeling was making him want to dance and move to the music. Niko spun around and was grinding up against his leg and Ichirou placed a hand on Niko’s low back, push him closer a bit to him. Niko brought his face close to Ichirou’s, but at the last second pulled away and spun around, so his ass was against Ichirou’s groin. Ichirou placed his hand on Niko’s hip, giving small thrusts towards Niko, but it was the music moving his body this way.

Niko looked back at Ichirou and Ichirou grabbed Niko’s arm with his other hand, pulling the other up against his body. One hand on Niko’s hip, the hand that pulled Niko up, ran up Niko’s chest and Ichirou grabbed Niko’s neck, gently and he licks the side of Niko’s neck. He kissed his neck and gave it a few nips, though his fangs weren’t extended out so his nips didn’t pierce the skin.

It started to feel like the whole room had their eyes on them. Or it could have been the high making Ichirou feel that way, but it didn’t matter as he moved both hands to Niko’s hips and turned the other around to face him. He gave Niko a look, a look of passion in his dark red eyes, where Niko’s green eyes were full of lust. Ichirou reached up with a hand and ran his thumb from Niko’s lower lip to his chin as his hand was resting under Niko’s chin. Their lips met, there was no way to know who started the kiss, but Ichirou was taking the lead, kissing Niko with passion, it was almost driving Niko insane with lust. Ichirou could smell Niko’s arousal from the kiss alone growing.

Niko’s arms wrapped around Ichirou’s neck, their bodies pressed closet together. Ichirou’s hands drop from Niko’s chin and both his hand reached down and cupped Niko’s round buttcheeks and without notice, He picked Niko up with ease. Niko gasped in surprise and wrapped his legs around Ichirou’s hips and continued to kiss him. Their tongue battling it out against each other, until Ichirou gave a soft bite to Niko’s lower lip. He pulled away and looked at Niko. Niko was panting, the scent of arousal thickly coming off of him and his flushed face with that sweet smile on his lips. He had enjoyed that.

Ichirou smirked and let Niko place his feet on the floor, though, Niko didn’t let go of Ichirou. Ichirou could see Niko needed him to stand, so Ichirou gave Niko a soft gentle kiss and nudged his head towards the kitchen, though anyone looking at Ichirou from the other side would think he was pointing to the stairs. Niko nodded his head, so Ichirou led Niko to the small hallway beside the staircase to the kitchen, instead of going through the living room.

As soon as Ichirou walked up to the counter, he grabbed Niko’s hips and sat him on the corner of the counter. “Whoa, that was something else.” One of the poker players said. “Are you going to be okay, Niko? You are really worked up.”

Ichirou forgot he wasn’t the only Vampire with a sensitive nose. “I’m fine. I will be.” Niko made Ichirou stand in front of him with his back towards Niko so he could lean on him.

Another drink was handed to Ichirou from Kojima, and Ichirou took the drink, looking at Kojima. Kojima nodded his head and Ichirou took a sip. He still didn’t trust Kojima, he tried once to spike his drink, though he wondered if Kojima would try it again or not.

Leon came back into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. “Man, did you piss off Ryoji.” He had a camera with him, where he got it was beyond him as he flipped the screen to show Ryoji’s face turning red with a scowl on it like no other.

Ichirou chuckled hard and took a few more sips of his drink. Leon said he had to give the camera back to its owner and left the kitchen again. Though, as Leon left, Ryoji came into the kitchen, followed by Hayden. Ryoji looked Ichirou up and down, even glanced at Niko slumped over on Ichirou’s shoulders, nuzzling the side of Ichirou’s neck. “Who let the underage nerd in here?” He looked at Kojima. “You know my brother’s rules. No elementary kids, except me and Hayden. I even saw Leon here too. I will be telling my brother.”

Ichirou snorted. “Last I checked your brother doesn’t own this house. Besides, I came here to party and have a good time, just like everyone else.” Ichirou looked over Ryoji’s shoulder and was looking at Hayden. Hayden was high, just from the glazed eyes alone.

Ryoji gave Ichirou a snarl before he turned around. “I’m heading out.” He called out and a few people awed at his departure, but Ichirou couldn’t care. He had a sleeping Niko on his back now and he still had to get back to Hayden’s house tonight.

Kojima shook Niko’s shoulder, but he didn’t stir. “Hey, bring him upstairs.” Kojima moved from behind the counter and Ichirou adjusted Niko on his back so he could give him a piggyback upstairs. Ichirou was right, the middle door to the left did lead to Kojima’s room. “Just lay him on the bed.” Ichirou sat down on the bed and grabbed Niko’s arms and slowly let Niko lay down before he got up and looked at Kojima.

“I need your word. You aren’t going to do anything to him.” Ichirou was serious.

Kojima shook his head. “I’m not going to do anything to him. This isn’t the first time he’s passed out at one of my parties. I usually let him sleep in here and I sleep in my dad’s room over there.” He pointed to the door beside his bedroom door.

Ichirou nodded his left the room and closed the door. “By the way, your father is a pervert. Rubbing one out in school.” Ichirou casually told Kojima, but he wasn’t expecting Kojima slamming him up against the wall, giving him a death glare. “What the fuck man?” Ichirou was pinned by Kojima’s big arm pushing him against the wall on his chest.

“Keep your mouth shut. Don’t tell anyone about that.” Kojima spoke low and threatening.

Ichirou nodded his head. “I won’t.”

“Good, keep it to yourself,” Kojima growled and let go of Ichirou and walked away. “Now that you had your fun, get out of my house.”

Ichirou rubbed his collar bone, that seriously hurt, he wasn’t expecting Kojima to freak out like that. He walked down the stairs and seen Leon there talking to a girl in the sitting room. Ichirou nodded his head towards Leon when Leon looked his way. Leon got up and walked over to Ichirou. “What’s up?”

“I’m getting kicked out now. Niko’s passed out and he was the only reason Kojima didn’t raise a fist to me.” Ichirou smirked.

“Say no more. I would like to walk home with you, not carry you in a body bag.” Leon laughed and he waved to the girl he was talking to and they both left the house, the crisp air, made Ichirou realize his high was still there, but he wasn’t completely fucked up, as if dancing with Niko drained and work the high out of him faster. He would never understand.


	22. Chapter 22

In the morning when he woke, Ichirou was staring up at the ceiling, a ceiling he had never seen before. He sat up slowly and realized he was in a room, the sports theme room of Leon’s. Leon was on the bed beside him. Seems after they got back to Leon’s place they made it up the stairs to Leon’s room and took off the pants and crawled into bed.

Ichirou smirked, he had a clear memory of last night, but now his head was starting to hurt. He crawled out of bed, careful not to disturb Leon, and put his pants back on. He grabbed his overnight backpack, he wasn’t going to bother to dress in cleaner clothes. He needed a shower first.

As he walked down the hall to the living room, he heard the TV going and the noise was hurting his head. Mandy, who was sitting on the couch watching TV, smiled at Ichirou. “Go drink some water, it in the kitchen. If you need some headache relief pills they are in the small cupboard beside the kitchen.

Nodding his head, Ichirou stepped into the kitchen and was completely lost, he knew where the medication was, but where were the glasses? Not bothering to ask or search, he walked over to the sink turned it on, and drank from the tap. He didn’t care how rude it was of him to drink from the tap, but it was an endless supply of water and he sucked it in fast.

Shutting off the water, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and water back into the living room. His head was feeling slightly better. He was just dehydrated and needed to get hydrated so the pain in his head would completely go away.

“Here, call your dad. Leon and Dameian usually never wake up till supper time So, might want to go home, instead of waiting all day for him, if you were planning on going home today.” Mandy passed her mobile phone over to Ichirou, with a smile on her face. Ichirou picked up the phone, and instead of calling his dad he called Mizuki and walked into the kitchen again.

“Hey, can you get father to come to pick me up?” Ichirou spoke into the receiver softly. “K, thanks.” He hung up the phone and as quick as he could he delete the number he called. If Leon’s sister wanted to, she could sell the number online and make a few bucks, because of his father and Mizuki being famous entertainers.

Ichirou walked back into the living room and passed Mandy back her mobile phone. She seemed to be looking at her phone for a moment before she let out a soft laugh. “You are really smart, Ichirou.” She looked at him and set her phone down on the coffee table as Ichirou sat on the couch waiting. “I saw your dad last night at the club I work at. Boy, was I surprised to see him there with a bunch of his friends. They had a VIP room, and I was called to dance for them, and what a shock I got. Though, your dad just smiled at me and said he already knew before. Your dad and his friends are actually regulars I heard through some other girls. I couldn’t believe it.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t surprise me. Though, he knows how to just go with the flow, even if he knows the truth. He’s tricky like that.” Ichirou smirked, he could believe it. Kazayuki was a sly like that, played along till the secret is revealed.

“I can’t believe your dad is so hot. I told him that he shouldn’t wear t-shirts anymore. They showed too much of his muscle tone and it could scare parents away.” Mandy picked up a nail file and started filing her nails. “Though with the sleeveless flannel shirt he was wearing last night, you wouldn’t think he was a really fit guy.”

Ichirou nodded his head, not pay attention to the conversation. What was he supposed to say to her? Nothing, because it didn’t matter as she carried on with the conversation. “I think you should come around here more often. Leon needs more mature friends like you and not immature friends like Dameian. I swear that boy will always be a virgin, especially when his brother is around him. You must notice it too, huh?”

Really, Ichirou didn’t notice much at school. It’s like his mind shut off everything around him and he paid attention to the teacher or do his work, though he could still have a conversation with any of his friends, he was oblivious to everything around him. Just then Ichirou heard the honking of a horn outside and looked through the large window to see his father in the car.

“Thanks for letting me stay the night. Tell Leon thanks as well. I’ll probably see him on Monday.” Ichirou got up and went to grab his backpack, which he placed by the stairs and walked down to the door, putting on his shoes.

“See you later. Tell your dad I say hi.” Mandy called out to Ichirou as he opened the door and got out of there. He walked slowly to the car and got inside. He buckled up his seat belt and look at his father, who was wearing sunglasses.

“You seem tense, did Mandy tell you I saw her last night?” Kazayuki asked, pulling away from the house. Ichirou sighed for an answer. “So, how was the party last night?”

“What? Party?” Ichirou turned and looked at Kazayuki, who was smirking as he drove. “You know about the party. I guess it was okay, had a few drinks, met up with Niko, had some fun, and went home.”

Kazayuki chuckled. “Let me guess, if Niko was there, then I know there were drugs there. Niko likes to party, Yomi has told Mizuki. Though, with Niko being sixteen, he is an adult by Vampire standards so he can do whatever he likes.”

“Yeah, there were drugs there, but I swear I didn’t do anything.” Ichirou went to plead his case before his father started asking.

“Right, that’s why I can smell marijuana on you. I’m not stupid, Ichirou.” Kazayuki was still smirking, but Ichirou couldn’t see his eyes, not with his sunglasses on. “You smoked with me before, so it’s not like I’m going to stop you from doing it again. You don’t need your father to hold your hand. Just don’t lie to me about doing it.”

“Alright. Yes, I smoked a joint with some other kids.” Ichirou looked out the window as they drove some more, till they were near the condominium. “What is Mizuki say?”

“Mizuki doesn’t know and I’m not going to tell him. Yes, you smell like marijuana, but that doesn’t mean you smoke it. You could have been standing beside someone smoking it.” Kazayuki chuckled as he pulled into the underground parking lot.

“Oh, so I could have lied to you about not smoking it.” Ichirou rolled his eyes.

Kazayuki shut off the car and turn to Ichirou, taking off his sunglasses. “I don’t want you lying to me. I don’t want you lying to Mizuki either, but neither of you has told each other the truth since we became a family. If you want to tell Mizuki the truth, go right ahead. I’m not caring.”

Ichirou nodded his head and understood. His father was right, he and Mizuki might live under the same roof but they never seriously got along. They told each other lies or just didn’t tell the truth. It seemed to go both ways. Ichirou and Kazayuki both got out of the car and took the elevator up to the condominium. Once Ichirou walked inside the door, he smiled and waved at the three family members there, before going to the bathroom to shower. He really wanted a shower.

After his shower, Ichirou got dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and came out of his room. It was the weekend so he didn’t need to get completely dressed or put any underwear on. He walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a blood package. He started sucking on it when Eliza squealed.

“Ichirou’s got a hickey on the back of his neck!” Eliza laughed as she was pointing at Ichirou. Ichirou turned to face her and his hand went straight to his neck, before he even had the chance to heal it, Mizuki came and pulled his hand away and looked at it.

“Where did you get that? No, who gave you that hickey?” Mizuki corrected himself as Kazayuki walked over to the kitchen leaning against the island beside Eliza. Mizuki turned Ichirou around to show Kazayuki.

“Oh, it’s not that bad. It’s just a hickey.” Kazayuki smirked, but Mizuki shook his head and let go of Ichirou.

“He’s only thirteen.” Mizuki scowled. “He is too young to be getting hickeys and walking around displaying them.”

“Really, Mizuki? I think as long as that’s all he is doing, I’m fine with it.” Kazayuki gave Mizuki a look. “As long as he wasn’t bitten on the hickey by another Vampire, it’s fine.”

Mizuki huffed and turned to Ichirou as he threw the plastic package out. “Who gave you that hickey? Was it Leon?”

“No. God, no.” Ichirou shook his head. “It was probably Niko when he passed out against me.” Ichirou realized he shouldn’t have said that because Mizuki turned red in the face with frustration.

“Niko, really? Do you know what he gets into? You shouldn’t be hanging around with him. I know he’s a sweet kid, but it’s clear you went to a party last night and if you ran into Niko then it was a party you shouldn’t have been at.” Mizuki stood there was a hand on his hip. “No more parties for you. Especially, if you are getting hickeys.”

“Mizuki, don’t get overbearing. Niko passed out on Ichirou, didn’t you hear? That meant Niko probably didn’t realize what he was doing.” Kazayuki sighed and leans on the island with his elbows and hands together. “Mizuki, you were young once, you probably got into some crazy stuff.”

“Yeah, when I was sixteen, not thirteen.” Mizuki pointed out. “Ichirou, no more parties and stay away from Niko unless we are around. You don’t want to get into trouble with him.”

Kazayuki shook his head. “Niko hasn’t gotten into trouble. He’s been caught taking drugs, but he’s not trouble.”

“Niko is the son of my dear friend. If Yomi says his son is trouble, then I don’t want Ichirou hanging around him. Is that clear?” Mizuki looked at Ichirou, pointing his finger at him with his other hand on his hip. Ichirou just nodded his head and placed his hand on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and repaired the tissue damage that was caused by the hickey.

“Daddy, what did you mean by getting a hickey and being bitten by a Vampire?” Eliza asked, looking at Kazayuki with curious eyes.

Kazayuki smirked. “It’s an old tradition. Dates back a long time ago. Vampires didn’t marry like humans do. They had a partner they were with and to make others know they were taken, they would give their partner a hickey and bite it with their fangs. The hickey would disappear within a week, but the bite lasted for a few years. It was only if a Vampire wanted to stake a claim on another that would ward off other Vampires.”

“Oh, why don’t you do it to mama?” Eliza looked over at Mizuki, just like Kazayuki was doing.

Mizuki shook his head. “Not happening. I have to make public appearances and a bite mark on me would spell trouble.”

“Only on the mainland. No one here would care.” Ichirou spoke, as he walked out of the kitchen to go sit on the couch beside Yuriel, who was watching cartoons. Yuriel moved closer to Ichirou, almost cuddling him, so Ichirou put an arm around him.

“Oh, Ichirou,” Mizuki came to stand in front of Ichirou. “Your father and I are going out tonight. Lexi is coming over for a sleepover later. You are in charge of supper tonight and looking after your siblings.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Okay, I understand.”

“Thank you. We’ll be home late, so don’t wait up for us.” Mizuki turned and walked to the master bedroom. Kazayuki was still standing beside Eliza, who was asking him questions. “Kazayuki, we need to get ready,” Mizuki called out from the bedroom. A soft chuckle came from Kazayuki, as he walked passed the couch and went into the bedroom, closing the door.

Yuriel turned and looked up at Ichirou. “They are going to do things in the shower together. They don’t need to leave for another two hours.” He giggled a bit as Ichirou shivered and shook his head. Yuriel was only nine years old, he didn’t need to know what they were doing, nor did Ichirou want to know what was going on.

“I’m going to clean up my room before Lexi comes over,” Eliza said, before she wrapped her arms around Ichirou’s neck, standing behind him. “Ichirou, I want pizza tonight, can you order some for us, please.”

Ichirou sighed. “Sure, if you got the money.” Eliza nodded her head. “Then I’ll order pizza tonight, but remember. We have to hide the evidence or I’ll get in shit for buying.”

“Ichirou, why don’t you get an allowance like we do?” Yuriel asked. Ichirou hoped they wouldn’t notice, but Mizuki always left out a note for Eliza and one for Yuriel with money.

“You’d have to ask, Mizuki that. I don’t ask for money and so I guess that’s why Mizuki doesn’t give me an allowance.” Ichirou shrugged slightly.

“You do more around here for us. You cook, you make sure we are up and ready for school. You even babysit us when they go out. I’m surprised you don’t get an allowance. We get it back we clean our rooms and keep the house cleaned if it gets dirty.” Eliza unwrapped her arms from around Ichirou’s neck and grabbed his head to tilt it back so Ichirou was looking at her. “What did you do to mama that was bad?”

“Nothing,” Ichirou replied coldly. There was a lot actually. His attitude towards Mizuki, though it was friendlier than it was years ago. He still told Mizuki’s lies, though, Mizuki lied to him as well. They butted heads when Kazayuki wasn’t around. Ichirou just didn’t like Mizuki, but his father did, so he tried his best to remain civil with him, just for his father.

“Must have been something.” Eliza smiled at Ichirou and moved away from him and started walking to the hallway. Ichirou just noticed now that Eliza was friendlier today then she had been in a few days. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the TV.

“I’ll ask mama. You should get something.” Yuriel said, to which surprised Ichirou. “Mama will give you money to spend, he loves me.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy,” Ichirou said in defeat.

Yuriel shrugged his shoulders and they both continued to watch cartoons on the TV. The cartoon was just some silly non-sense show with a yellow character, but it made Yuriel laugh, and Ichirou just smirked at the non-sense. They watched a few episodes before the master bedroom was opened in Kazayuki walked out. He looked at the two on the couch and smirked.

“Father, you don’t have to be sly about it. We know what you were doing in there.” Ichirou complained of his father’s behavior. “In fact, I’m surprised it doesn’t smell something awful.”

“That’s because there is that scent killer out there that helps with women against Vampires, who do have a sensitive nose.” Mizuki walked out looking fashionably stylish, for a guy who was wearing shorts with straps attached to the legging of the lower part of the pants. It was showing off his bare thighs. He even had a vest style shirt on top, his brown hair spiked and teased in the back, and the makeup on. Ichirou looked at his father. He had on a sleeveless flannel shirt, pair of leather pants. Not much of a change, except he never seen his father wear eyeliner when he wasn’t on tour, but now he was seeing it.

“A scent killer?” Ichirou questioned. Mizuki nodded and brought out a small spray bottle. He handed it to Ichirou and Ichirou read the label. It was a scent killer alright, but it was meant to cover up the scent of menstruating women. “This isn’t for sex.”

“I know, but can’t you smell anything, right?” Mizuki asked, and Ichirou shook his head. “Then it works both ways.”

“Really? Why?” Ichirou asked. Why cover up the scent? His body had gotten used to the scent that it didn’t react in that way anymore.

“Because you are getting to that age and I don’t need you doing things you shouldn’t so. It’s bad enough you came home with a hickey.” Mizuki scowled, as Ichirou passed him the bottle back.

“She’s talking about masturbating,” Yuriel said bluntly.

“Whoa, okay.” Ichirou pushed himself farther up the couch, making Yuriel move away from him. “I don’t do that for one thing. And, you are too young to know what that word means. Yes, the scent of arousal used to make me feel funny, but I never acted on it, and it doesn’t affect me like it used to when I was five.”

“It’s not just for Ichirou. It’s for Yuriel too.” Kazayuki told Mizuki with a look on his face. “I know what you are thinking about and neither of them is going to become like the others. They have more control over themselves.”

Now both Yuriel and Ichirou were looking at them. What were they talking about? What others?

“You don’t know that.” Mizuki stood there fangs extending out in anger. Kazayuki shook his head, this wasn’t the time. “I know Yuriel won’t become, but Ichirou is unpredictable.”

“What the fuck is going on here? Explain to me.” Ichirou was don’t with the dancing around conversation.

“Watch your language, Ichirou!” Mizuki snapped back at him. Yuriel flinched and moved back closer to Ichirou, away from Mizuki and this action lead Mizuki to calm down. “I’m sorry, Yuriel. I didn’t mean to get angry.” He bent down and petted Yuriel’s blond hair as Yuriel started to calm down.

Ichirou looked at his father, he wanted to know what was going on. Kazayuki shook his head, now wasn’t the time. Ichirou frowned, he was going to have to get his father to tell him sometime soon.

“Mama.” Yuriel had calmed down and sat up, looking at Mizuki. “Why doesn’t Ichirou get an allowance? Eliza and I get one, but why not Ichirou?”

Mizuki sighed and stood up. “It’s not my job to give him an allowance.” He looked over at Kazayuki.

“What? Ichirou can come and ask me anytime for money, but he doesn’t. Sure, I never told him he could, but he seems to be doing just fine without.” Kazayuki put his hands up in front of him. “Do you need some money, Ichirou?”

“I guess. I mean, if I am going to start hanging out with friends more often, money wouldn’t be a bad thing to have.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders.

Mizuki shook his head. “You don’t need money to hang out with friends. The only reason you would need money is to buy drugs.”

Ichirou growled low in his throat. He had enough of this attitude he was getting from Mizuki. He wasn’t even giving him attitude now, though he was about to open his mouth when the doorbell rang. Mizuki turned to go get the door. Kazayuki slipped out his wallet and handed Ichirou a couple of hundred dollar bills. “Don’t buy drugs, please.” Was all his father said as he walked over to the door to greet their guest.

Ichirou didn’t pay attention as he looked at the money in his hand. $400. Why this much? Was his father feeling bad about not giving him an allowance? He didn’t care as he heard Kazayuki and Mizuki say their goodbyes as they left. Yuriel turned around and looked at the money in Ichirou’s hand.

“You are lucky, I only get $10, and I have to save that before I can actually buy anything I like.” Yuriel giggled and got up off the couch. “I’m going for a bath, call me when pizza’s here.” And he skipped away.

Ichirou walked over to the phone on the wall, called the number, and ordered a vegetarian pizza for Eliza and a meat lovers pizza for him and Yuriel. He was kind of happy that he had money to spend and didn’t have to ask Eliza or Yuriel for money to buy pizza. Rarely did they get to have pizza and when they were alone, one of the others bought for all three of them.

* * *

Pizza delivered, Eliza asked where Ichirou got the money for it and he told her Kazayuki gave it to him. They ate their share of what they wanted to eat and Ichirou cleaned up the mess of the cardboard boxes and took the garbage out to the disposal chute in the hallway. He came back in and Yuriel was watching a movie with Eliza and he decided to go to his bedroom, but just as he started walking away from the door. There was a knock on the door.

Ichirou rolled his eyes and opened the door to see Lexi rushing pass him to go greet and hug Eliza and Niko standing there. “You want to come in for a bit?” Ichirou asked, trying to be polite.

Niko smiled at him. “I came to ask you a question. You see a bunch of us are going to this underground club tonight and wanted to know if you wanted to come with us?” His smile was sweet, but his eyes were pleading Ichirou to come.

“I have to stay here with the kids. I’m babysitting tonight.” Ichirou told him, as he looked over his shoulder at them.

Eliza peeked up over the couch with Lexi doing the same. “Go, Ichirou. You’ve fed us and it’s not like we are going to get into trouble. We’ve been home alone before. Well, with you. But it’s not like it’s going to change anything. You usually sit in your room anyways and play video games.”

She was right. Ichirou would be in his room all night, only coming out to check on them, but they never got into anything. Though, Mizuki’s voice rang in his head to stay away from Niko. Ichirou gripped the door and a small growl came from his chest. “Fine. I’ll go, but I need to get dressed first.” He smirked, he wasn’t going to let Mizuki control his inner thoughts.

“I’ll help you.” Niko grabbed Ichirou’s other hand and Ichirou shut the door as he was being pulled away to his room. Niko pushed Ichirou onto the bed and opened his closet, hoodies, and jackets. He moved over to Ichirou’s dresser and started opening the drawers. “Do you not have anything decent to wear? You’re like your dad, but t-shirts and jeans.”

Ichirou got up and walked over to him. “Why would I wear anything else?” He told him as he watched Niko go through his clothes, pulling out a black t-shirt with the name of his father’s band on it, written in blood-drip text and he pulled out a pair of fade jeans with a few rips in the legs.

“This will have to do and you are going to wear your studded leather wristbands too.” Niko turned around and looked at Ichirou. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get dressed.”

“You are in my room.” Ichirou pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “Get out and I’ll dress.”

Niko giggled. “For a boy with abs like yours, you sure are embarrassed to change or dress in front of another boy.” He gave Ichirou a peck on the cheek and walked out of his room, closing the door behind him.

What was that about? Ichirou put his hand on his cheek where Niko kissed him. He shook his head and grabbed some boxer shirts from one of his other drawers and took his sweats off, before pulling on the underwear. Getting the jeans on next, followed by his shirt, he ran his hand through his hair, calming himself. He was getting anxious, but why? Was it because he was going to be leaving the house with Niko to go party? Must have been. He put his studded leather wristbands on and grabbed his gothic-looking cross off his mirror and put that on too. He looked at himself in the mirror and smirked. He looked just fine.

Walking out of his room, Niko was already waiting for him by the door, so Ichirou walked towards him and started putting on his converse shoes at the door. “Oh, looking deadly, Ichirou.” Lexi’s voice was heard before there was the sound of giggling coming from the three in the living room.

“Alright. I’ll be home. Hopefully, before Mizuki and my father get home, so remember midnight is bedtime.” Ichirou started instructing them. “Other than that, behave and have fun.” He smirked at them as they waved him goodbye and he left with Niko.

Once outside the building, Niko pulled Ichirou over to a car. Someone was already sitting in the driver seat. “Ichirou, this is my roommate. You two met last night, kind of. He was sitting at the poker table.” Niko let Ichirou get in the back seat and Niko got into the front passenger seat.

“Hey, nerd. Nice to see you again.” The jock from last night spoke. Ichirou remembered seeing him but didn’t know his name. “They call me, Hit. Though, my name is Hitsu.” He started driving the car down the street.

Ichirou nodded his head. “I’d tell you my name, but you are just going to call me nerd anyways.” He heard the guy chuckle. “So Niko, you didn’t tell me you had a roommate?”

Niko nodded his head. “Yeah, after mama and papa found out about me getting into drugs, I was kind of kicked out. I still go over there to hang out and eat supper, but they allowed me to go live on my own if I wanted to act like an adult. It’s normal for sixteen-year-olds to find a place and move out of their parent’s place, Ichirou. We are classified as adults.”

“I didn’t know.” Ichirou was hearing this for the first time. “How do you pay rent then?”

“Easy, you get a job, silly.” Niko giggled as they drove to an area Ichirou remembered, the same area that Junji and Kiyo lived. It wasn’t the best part of the city, but it wasn’t a dump either. There wasn’t any place that was trashy in the city.

“Here, we are home sweet home.” Niko got out of the car, and Ichirou followed too. It was a four-plex building, four separate living spaces for four different families.

Ichirou smirked as he followed Niko into the building through the main entrance and they walked down a small flight of stairs to the left and Niko unlocked the door and opened it for Ichirou. It wasn’t that bad, a living room area and a kitchen area towards the back.

“My one of my other roommates sleeps on the couch, so his area is the living room, Hitsu, and Lyle, another guy you didn’t see last night, sleep in the front bedroom and I sleep in the back bedroom. Bathroom in the middle.” Niko took Ichirou to a small hallway with three doors and by Niko’s description, the middle door was the bathroom. He dragged Ichirou always to his bedroom, which when he opened it, Ichirou thought he was stepping into a furry raver’s world with all the bright colors and fuzzy decorations.

“I have to get showered, so you can sit in here and wait.” Niko winked at him and left the bedroom. Ichirou was just shocked by all the bright pink and neon green and blues all around the room, even the floor had a yellow furry rug that took up the whole room. Ichirou shook his head, this was a nightmare for him, he wasn’t into these bright colors. He sat on the bed and felt that it was plushy so he leaned back and lied down on his back, looking up at the ceiling. The blanket on top of the bed was furry too and it felt good against his bare arms. He just laid there with his hands behind his head, waiting.

Nio came back after a few minutes, wearing nothing but a fluffy housecoat, at least from what Ichirou could tell. He sat at a vanity table that was placed beside the door and started fixing his hair, it was damp, but it wasn’t overly wet either. “You should let me do your makeup before we leave. You would look so hot.”

Ichirou sat up and looked at Niko through the mirror. “How about no.” Ichirou scowled. He never wore makeup, so why would he start now?

“Please. I can make your eyes pop.” Niko begged as he was fixing his hair up with fake plastic dreads of green and yellow, and tying them off behind his head to hang down in a high ponytail.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “If you're that insistent, I’ll do it myself.” He didn’t want anyone putting makeup on him. If Niko wanted him to put makeup on, he’d do it himself.

“You’ll put it on yourself? Do you even know how?” Niko giggled as he turned around to look at Ichirou.

“I’ve watched my father put on eyeliner and black powder stuff on his eyes before a show enough, I think I can do it,” Ichirou smirked, he was confident in himself.

“Alright, get over here.” Niko smiled and moved over on the long stool he was sitting on. Ichirou walked over to him and sat down. “Have your pick at anything here, and have fun.” Ichirou looked down at the table and seen a lot of different makeup products and colors. He skimmed through everything until he found the black eyeliner. Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed Niko smiling at him, watching him. Ichirou sighed and started on the eyeliner on his lower lids. It was an instinct for him and he drew straight lines on his lower lids and with right thickness too. Ichirou realized he looked exactly like his father did tonight.

“Wow, you didn’t smudge it all,” Niko said, as he was applying his makeup in green and yellow colors on his upper lids with some white shimmering color too. “You going to add anything else?”

Ichirou looked down at the table, he scanned through all the colors till he noticed the black eye cream. This would have to do as Niko handed him a brush to apply it. And like the eyeliner, Ichirou applied it close to his eyes, but it wasn’t right. He looked down and scanned again. No black eyeshadow, but he found a dark grey color. Niko handed him another brush and Ichirou applied it on his upper lid, making it look smokey. He finished and realize his dark red eyes seemed to become brighter, like his father’s. It was shocking to him.

Niko hugged him and looked at them in the mirror. “That’s perfect. I didn’t think putting on makeup would make your eyes get brighter. I wanted to make them pop, but they did it on their own.” He giggled and kissed Ichirou on the cheek before he went to put on fake lashes.

“Yeah, I watched my father do it enough, I thought his eyes were always brighter red than mine, but it’s maybe from makeup.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders and let Niko finish up putting on his makeup.

“We should do something with your hair. I should have gotten you to shower so you could get the gel out of your hair.” Niko sighed but quickly smiled.

“I don’t put gel in my hair. It’s naturally spiked up.” Ichirou said, running his hand through his hair.

“Oh, wow. Then we are going to put gel in your hair tonight. Do some liberty spikes in your hair. I always thought you gel your hair up to look soft and fluffy like that.” Niko giggled, as he got up from his seat. “Sit down and let me do your hair.”

Once again, Ichirou rolled his eyes. He was going to regret all this extra flare, but he let Niko have his fun. He did drag him out tonight to do something fun. Niko grabbed some gel and started fixing Ichirou in small spikes all around his head. After Ichirou turned around and he didn’t even notice himself anymore. One thing of hair gel changed who he was all his life, his father’s look alike.

Ichirou was staring at himself in the mirror, he noticed Niko letting the housecoat fall from his shoulders to the floor with his back to Ichirou and Ichirou got quite a view of Niko’s smooth ass. He closed his eyes, stopping him from staring. He was thirteen, these feelings don’t happen to a thirteen-year-old boy.

Ichirou had opened his eyes and seen Niko was finally dressed. Niko was wearing green short shorts that looked like they were made out of latex. He had a yellow and green corset top, and yellow stockings with green platform runners. “Are you ready, Ichirou?” Niko offered his hand out to Ichirou and Ichirou took his hand and nodded his head.

“Oh, Niko finally comes out. I was getting worried when Hit told me you took the nerd into your room.” A jock looking guy said as they entered the living room. “I’m jealous of the nerd. He got to watch you get dressed.”

Niko giggled. “Yeah, watched me through his eyelids.” He walked over to the guy and gestured to him. “Ichirou, this is Lyle. This is the other football player I was telling you about.”

Ichirou waved his hand. “Nice you meet you.” Before he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Nerd, don’t be so modest.” The jock guy laughed at him and put his arm around Niko’s shoulders. “Shall we get going? Hit’s waiting in the car.” Niko nodded his head and walked over to Ichirou and grabbed his hand and lead him out of the complex. Ichirou got in the back of the car again with Lyle and Niko took the front passenger seat again. Ichirou smirked to himself, he was breaking so many of Mizuki’s rules, but it felt good.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Underage drinking, drug use, sexual dancing.

The group had parked the car in a parking lot and they walked down the street. They seemed to be in an industrial area of town. There were older styles of building and it was close to downtown. Ichirou was walking beside Niko, as Niko had his hands around Ichirou’s arm. They walked up to a building that had party-goers hanging out on the outside.

Ichirou was raised a brow when Lyle and Hitsu pushed passed them and Niko followed them dragging Ichirou with him. They got to the door, the bouncer looked at them and they were allowed in, just like that. Hitsu paid for all four of them once they were inside. Ichirou could hear music coming from below them, he smirked at Niko, who smiled at him and all of them headed down a set of stairs.

The stairs lead to a big basement area, lots of other people were there, dancing or drinking, there were lights on the ceiling and walls, all different colors but it was like a light show. Darkroom with a light show, Ichirou could enjoy this after all. They made their way to the far right of the room, where there was a bar. Niko put his finger to his lips, as he let go of Ichirou’s arm and walked off.

Lyke came up to Ichirou. “Man, I am seriously jealous of you. You have Niko crawling all over you, you even got the chance to be in his room with the door shut and all. He really has a thing for you.”

Ichirou shook his head. “It’s not like that. Our families are friends, so that makes us friends by default. Besides, you danced with Niko last night. I remember you now, Niko was dancing with you before he called me over.”

Lyle laughed. “Yeah, but Niko doesn’t let just anyone touch him, except his hips and he let you do a hell of a lot more.” He slapped Ichirou on the shoulder. “You might be younger than us, but you’ll get lucky with Niko, before anyone else.”

Ichirou smirked. He highly doubted Lyle’s words, especially since Niko came back, with two drinks and he was glaring at Lyle. Niko handed Ichirou a drink cup and Lyle noticed the Niko had returned then. “Don’t be thinking so rudely of me. Ichirou is just a friend, but he is young so he needs to be mothered into our world before we can let him loose.”

Lyle started laughing harder at Niko’s words and walked away from them. Ichirou brought the cup up to his lips and took a sip. It was rum with a mix. He looked wide-eyed at Niko.

“Right now, no one cares how old we are. Just enjoy your first club experience for the night, it a rare chance for anyone under eighteen to get this chance.” Niko winked at Ichirou and took a sip of his drink.

Ichirou was wondering what Niko was talking about, but he didn’t question him as he took a few move sips of his drink. Then Hitsu came up to Niko, whispered in his ear, and handed him two pills in his hand. Niko smiled and nodded his head. Hitsu winked at Ichirou and walked away. That’s when Ichirou started to notice the crowd on the far right of the club was filled with teens Ichirou noticed from the party last night.

“Like I said, it’s a rare chance.” Niko popped a pill in his mouth and took a drink from his cup. “The club owner is out of town and his employees don’t care for age. Though, you have to have a reputation to get in. Jocks mainly get in. I hang around with them so I always get in. The rule is we stick to our crowd here and don’t mingle with adults.”

Ichirou nodded his head and looked at his drink. It made sense now. The bartender knew they were just kids over here, so the drinks had alcohol but not as strong as it should have been. They were cheaping out on the alcohol, but who cares. “And the pills?”

Niko smiled. “Those are brought in secretly. None of the employees notice, but if it is out in the open, then the bouncer will remove anyone with them.” Niko still had his hand clamped around one of the pills. “Do you want it? Hitsu gave me two for us, but I know you don’t care for it.”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “I’m fine, I don’t want to get fucked up and make an ass of myself.” He felt the pressure to take it, but Niko nodded his head and popped the pill in his drink and took a few sips of it.

“I’ll just let it dissolve then.” Niko giggled and he turned around and tapped someone on the shoulder. He was talking to them, but the music was drowning out Niko’s words. The person Niko talked to nodded his head and took Niko’s drink. Niko turned to Ichirou. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Where else was Ichirou supposed to go? He was in this club, surrounded by others, but he didn’t dare speak to them. Then his shoulder was tapped and he turned around and was face to face with the jock from last night, the one he had repaired last night. “Dude, you are such a life savior, do you know that? I went for a pre-evaluation, and I passed. The trainer was amazed that I called him to check me out and my knee wasn’t swelled. I said I put ice of it.”

“Well, I’m glad I helped you out. Though, don’t go around spreading rumors.” Ichirou gave him a serious look.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us poker guys from last night. Kojima said if anyone told anyone else about what you did last night, he would personally put them in the hospital.” The jock laughed. So, Kojima was still a bully, even to his team members, but they all seemed cool last night with him. Guess some people don’t change.

“Well, nice to know my enemy is looking out for me.” Ichirou chuckled. The jock laughed as well. They talked a bit about training that he was going to be going through to make sure he was faking the injury. Ichirou learned a bit about some medical terms he remembered from his childhood with his babysitter Kelly. He was able to explain to the other when he wasn’t sure about something, and even give him some advice. They parted ways when a girl came up to them and asked for a dance. Ichirou let the two go off to dance.

Ichirou turned around, finishing off his drink, and across the room on the far left side, he saw his father with Mizuki and others. He almost started choking on his drink and he turned his back to them. Shit, this wasn’t a good thing. He was supposed to be at home with the kids, and not hanging out with Niko. He moved through the crowd before he spotted Niko.

Ichirou grabbed Niko’s arm. “Shit, I have to go. Mizuki and my father are here.” He growled in Niko’s ear. Niko looked at him and tried to look over Ichirou to see if he could spot them.

“Relax, Ichirou. They are on the other side and the club is crowded. There is no way they would see you.” Niko grabbed Ichirou’s cheeks and smiled sweetly at him. “Let’s go dance, that will calm you down.” He didn’t wait for Ichirou to say anything as he grabbed his hand and lead him to the dance floor that was closer to their side. Well, the dance floor was crowded so he won’t get noticed with everyone there.

Niko turned Ichirou to have his back towards the left side, so Ichirou was facing the right side crowd. That eased himself a bit because there is no way they would notice him from his backside. A new song started and Ichirou felt the beat and swayed his hips just like he had done last night. He placed a hand on Niko’s hip, as his other hand, held an empty cup. Ichirou realized, Niko was only taller by a bit, because of the platform shoes he was wearing.

Ichirou saw a guy with a cup passing them, and he handed his empty one to him. The guy looked at the cup and took it anyway, seems he knew Ichirou was dancing and the cup had nothing in it. That freed up Ichirou’s other hand to run along Niko’s side down to his hips, both hands on Niko’s hips, Ichirou grind against Niko’s ass, before the other turned around and was at his side, dancing and grinding against Ichirou’s leg.

“I’m going to have to teach you how to really dance.” Niko giggled before kissed Ichirou’s cheek. They both moved to the music, Ichirou’s body wasn’t as stiff and he was letting the music flow through him. He just remembered how he was moving last night when he was high, the high had helped him to move. Then they both were moving on the floor, Niko giggling.

Niko had turned around and bent down in front of Ichirou, and Ichirou held his hips as he made small thrust like actions against Niko’s ass. Seemed no one was caring how the two of them were dancing as everyone else was dancing similar to them anyway. Ichirou smirked to himself and pulled Niko up and pressed his back to his chest. One of Ichirou’s hands found it’s way around Niko and he hooked his thumb into Niko’s shorts as he turned Niko’s head towards his and their lips met. The hand moved from Niko’s face and lingered down as Ichirou and Niko continued to move against each other.

Ichirou didn’t know where this came from, this idea, but he wasn’t questioning his actions anymore. He moved his lips from Niko’s lips and started kissing against his neck, making Niko mew softly, but only Ichirou could hear it through the music. He trailed his kisses down Niko’s neck, as his hand, the one with his thumb hooked in Niko’s shorts, rubbed against the front of Niko’s pants. It made Niko moan and the scent of Niko’s arousal reached Ichirou’s nose. He smelled a lot of arousals before, but Niko’s scent was unique to him and Ichirou remembered it from last night, so he knew Niko was getting aroused. He was just letting his body do as it wanted to do to Niko.

Giving Niko a little nip on the shoulder, Ichirou rested his chin against Niko’s shoulder and was about to kiss Niko again, when he caught a pair of red eyes looking directly at him. Ichirou’s eyes when wide, his father and Mizuki were dancing on the dance floor, but Mizuki’s back was towards Ichirou.

Panic rushed through Ichirou’s body. He removed his hands from Niko’s body. “Shit, my father noticed. I gotta go now.” He didn’t even wait for Niko’s reaction as Ichirou was moving through the crowd towards the stairs that would lead outside. Though, before he even got to the stairs, his arm was grabbed and he turned his head to see it was his father that caught him. No words were spoken as Kazayuki dragged Ichirou towards an area where there were couches to sit on and the music wasn’t as loud as it was in this area.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go home. I knew I shouldn’t have left the kids. I’m sorry.” Ichirou was pleading with his father right off the bat as Kazayuki let go of his arm.

Kazayuki smirked and a chuckled was heard from him. “You think I’m angry?” Kazayuki’s red eyes weren’t angry at all. “Son, I know how to sense you. I knew as soon as you came into the building that you were here. You were even making Niko enjoy himself out there on the floor, though you are a little young to be getting that hot and heavy. Where did you learn those moves?”

“I don’t know. They just come to me. It happens a lot, I’ll be doing something and my body just moves.” Ichirou was glad his father wasn’t angry, but he sure almost gave him a heart attack.

“You are my son, Ichirou. You are exactly like me. Makes sense now. You gained my knowledge, that’s why you are so smart and guessing you gained more than just knowledge from me. You are my replica.” Kazayuki chuckled and reached into his front pocket on his flannel shirt. “Here, you deserve it. Just promise you will be home by 2 am.”

Ichirou looked as his father passed him a joint and Ichirou took it, closing his hand around it gently. “Alright, I’ll be home by 2 am,” Ichirou smirked before it disappeared on his face. “Are you going to tell Mizuki?”

Kazayuki shook his head. “Why would I? This little disagreement is between you two. Now, Niko is looking around for you.” He nodded his head towards Niko, who was talking to Lyle and Hitsu. “I’ll keep Mizuki as occupied as I can. He’s already noticed Niko because Yomi pointed him out, but I don’t think they have noticed you.” Kazayuki patted Ichirou’s shoulder as he walked away. Ichirou sighed before wearing a smirk on his face as he walked back towards Niko.

Niko saw Ichirou and ran over to him and wrapped his arms around him. “I was so worried, I thought you left.” He told Ichirou. Ichirou shook his head.

“Is there a place we can go outside for a moment? I think I need some fresh air.” Ichirou asked Niko, who nodded his head. “You guys come too.” He told Hitsu and Lyle to come with him and Niko as Niko was leading Ichirou to another staircase, that was hidden behind the bar.

Feeling the crisp air hitting his body, Ichirou realized how warm it was in the club. Niko sat on top of a picnic table, as Lyle sat on the seat of the picnic table. Hitsu was sitting on the table beside Lyle, with his back to Niko.

Ichirou walked up to the table. “Anyone got a lighter?” He asked them and they shook their heads.

“Hold on.” Hitsu looked out in the small fenced-in area. “Hey, Rocco! Need a light!” He called out to some guy, who nodded his head and tossed a lighter through the air across the area. Lyle turned around to catch it as it wasn’t thrown exactly at Hitsu.

“Why do you need a lighter? Do you smoke or something?” Lyle held out the lighter and looked at Ichirou with curiosity in his eyes.

“Only this.” Ichirou grabbed the lighter and put the joint he had in between his lips and started it. Ichirou gave Lyle the lighter. Hitsu took the lighter and called back to Rocco and tossed the lighter.

“Ichirou, that’s a joint. Where did you get it?” Niko looked at Ichirou as he puffed on it before passing it to Niko.

“My father.” Ichirou just shrugged his shoulders.

“Your dad gave you a joint?” Hitsu laughed. “What the fuck is wrong with this picture?”

“Is that why you took off running?” Niko passed the joint around. “Did Mizuki see you as well?”

“Only my father. He said Mizuki and Yomi know you are here, but not me. He told me to be home by 2 am and handed me the joint. He’s not completely a neo-nazi about drugs, just the harder drugs.” Ichirou explained to Niko, as Lyle passed him the joint and Ichirou took a puff from it.

“Damn, if you are cool beans, nerd.” Lyke joked. “If your father is okay with you smoking, he’s cool in my books. Most of our parents get pissed, that why the three of us got kicked out of our parent’s houses. Though, that’s just life. We are classified as adults and can do whatever we want.”

Niko giggled. “Of course, Ichirou’s dad is cool. He is Kazayuki.” Niko pointed to Ichirou’s shirt that had the logo of his father’s band on it.

“Whoa, your dad is the Kazayuki. That must mean you are related to-” Niko had covered Hitsu mouth up.

“Ichirou isn’t related to him. You got that?” Niko gave both Hitsu and Lyle a deadly look, and they nodded their heads.

Lyle looked at Ichirou up and down. “Now I can see it. It’s like you look like a younger version of Kazayuki.”

Ichirou passed the joint to Niko. “Yeah, I am told I am his replica. Even my DNA says so.” He joked, even though it was true.

“Mini Ka-yu. That’s your new nickname, from here on out.” Hitsu chuckled. “Well, tell everyone here and at school. Kojima is going to flip his lid that his punk turned nerd, became Mini Ka-yu.”

Ichirou shook his head with a smirk. He was glad that he was getting more inclusive with the jocks. He wanted a different nickname and he got his wish, Mini Ka-yu, but was it really going to catch on? He hoped and there was a part of him that didn’t hope.

After they finished the joint, they went back in, each had a drink and Niko was off dancing with Ichirou on the dance floor, Niko made sure they were covered by the crowd from the other side. It got closer to the time Ichirou had to get home, and the group all left, even though Ichirou said he could walk home, but seemed they all had other plans the next day and they should get home. Ichirou was dropped off and he waved them farewell to them as he went inside.

Once he opened the door to the condominium, he had to use a key to get in, seemed all the kids were asleep on the couch or the floor in front of the TV. Ichirou knew if he didn’t get them into their bedrooms, Mizuki would blame him for playing video games and not looking after them. So, he got Yuriel into his room, then picked up Eliza and carried her to her room. Next was Lexi and she stirred awake for a moment. “Hi, Ichirou. You smell like Niko.” She said as she fell back asleep in his arms as he carried her to Eliza’s room. Everyone in bed, Ichirou cleaned up the living room area and shut off the TV. He realized his hair was spiked still when he tried to run his hand through it.

Ichirou took off to the bathroom to shower, get the smell of weed, Niko, as well as any other smell he picked up. He didn’t realize the makeup on his eyes didn’t wash off till he had dried himself and looked in the mirror seeing the eyeliner, still black on his lower lid. His eyes were still red, not returning to their dark red appearance. He knew he had to get this off, but he wasn’t sure how. He let out a sigh and just wrapped the towel around his waist. Tomorrow he would have to ask his sister or Yuriel how to remove it before Mizuki saw him. Ichirou walked out to his bedroom, closed the door, and dropped the towel on the floor. He just crawled into bed and closed his eyes. He didn’t realize how tired he was from tonight, as he let dreamworld take over.


	24. Chapter 24

Going back to school, Ichirou made it to the classroom and was greeted by Leon and Dameian at his locker. “Dude, I heard what happened on Friday night. You guys must have had a blast.” Dameian was standing there with a cheeky grin on his face. “Though, if I had stayed over at Leon’s place, you wouldn’t have gone at all.”

Leon laughed lightly. “What if we hang out every weekend something is going on. You know my sister wouldn’t mind. She told me to invite Ichirou over more often.” He looked at Ichirou with a look. “My sister digs your dad.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ichirou turned around and looked at them. “My father knew who your sister was the moment he met her.”

Leon’s eyes widen. “Shit, and he didn’t even act like he knew her. She sure didn’t know him.”

“The light. Stage lights would do that to them, to blind them from their audiences' ugly ass faces.” Dameian stood there with his arms crossed, nodding his head.

“Well, now you know my father knows your sister. So no need to pay her for pretending to be your mother.” Ichirou chuckled as he patted Leon’s shoulder. He looked to the door as Hayden and Ryoji walked in. Ryoji made eye contact with Ichirou and scowled at him, as he walked over towards them.

“You best not show up to any more parties, and you best stay the hell away from Niko.” Ryoji pointed at Ichirou and pushed him with his finger a couple of times in the shoulder.

“You don’t have a say to what I do or where I go or even who I talk to. If I just happened to be at a party you are attending, you best be there before I show up, or I’m not leaving. If you are there before I do show up, I will leave because I don’t want to be around your grease ass stank.” Ichirou smirked, Dameian looked at him with wide eyes and Leon was smiling as he bit his knuckle, trying to hold back a laugh.

Hayden was standing behind Ryoji, pulling on his sleeve. “Leave him alone, he’s not worth it. He’s all talk and no action.” Hayden looked up at Ichirou with a bored look in his eyes. “He thinks he’s better than everyone, but you know your brother will put him in his place when he enters high school.”

“You’re right. Ichirou is nothing compared to him. He’ll lay him out and leave him dead in the gutter.” Ryoji looked Ichirou up and down, before spitting at Ichirou’s feet. He and Hayden turned around to walk over to their desks.

“Now, I have to know everything that happened at that party between you and Ryoji,” Dameian said, with the biggest grin on his face, showing off his fangs.

“I’ll tell you about it later if Ichirou wants me to.” Leon didn’t exactly tell Dameian everything, but he would have to now.

“Sure, whatever.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. The bell rang and everyone got to their desks as the teacher walked in. The class began as usual.

That lunchtime, Ichirou, Leon, and Dameian were playing a game of basketball. It was Dameian and Ichirou against Leon. Even though Leon was a human, he had better skills at using the ball and making shots on the two of them. The rule was not to crowd Leon with both of their bodies, just give him a chance.

As they were playing, Ichirou heard a horn honk and turned towards the street. There standing by a car, which Ichirou realized it was Hitsu’s car, Niko was waving at him. Ichirou stopped the game and walked over towards Niko. Leon and Dameian followed after him.

“Hey, what’s up, Niko?” Ichirou said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Leon and Dameian were standing on either side of him.

“Well, a fight broke out at school today, so the police were called. We were given a half-day.” Niko giggled as he leaned against the hood of the car. He wasn’t dressed up like Ichirou had seen him these past days, in fact, he was wearing an oversized shirt and pants where the crotch area hung down to his knees. He had a baseball cap on that was tilted to the side. He looked more like a boy than dressing up as a girl, or a raver.

“So, you decided to come back to elementary school?” Ichirou joked. Dameian put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders and looked Niko up and down.

“Damn, he knows how to put away the dresses and dress up real nice.” Dameian couldn’t help himself but say what Ichirou was thinking, in his way.

Niko giggled. “I’m a crossdresser, but I know what you are saying. Thank you.” He looked back at Ichirou. “We have to work later, but was wondering if you wanted to skip with us, Ichirou. You see some of us are going over to Kojima’s house and going to hang out for a bit.”

“Niko, I’m in elementary school, not high school. I can’t just go off and leave school.” Ichirou’s conscious was kicking in. He knew better than to just leave the school grounds. Though, he was curious about going. “Besides, I’m told by a certain someone that I shouldn’t be hanging around with you, and it’s not Mizuki.”

“Oh, who else wants you to stay away from me? I know your dad is okay with us hanging out, and mama doesn’t care who I hang around with.” Niko was confused about who would want Ichirou to stay away from him.

“It’s Ryoji,” Leon told Niko before Ichirou could tell him. “The bastard threaten Ichirou to stay away from you and any parties. Something about his brother leaving him dead in a gutter.”

“No, that was after Ichirou started high school, that Ryoji’s brother would put Ichirou in his place.” Dameian corrected Leon. Ichirou rolled his eyes, it really didn’t matter when it was, he was still threatened by Ryoji.

Niko frowned. “Ryoji’s a little bastard. He’s always trying to get in my pants. He’s only twelve and he’s already a pervert.” Niko shivered at the thought. “Don’t listen to that bastard. He can think what he wants, but I choose who I want to hang out with, not him.”

“Either way, I’m not leaving.” Ichirou shook his head. “Besides, I would need to get my books and know what the homework shit load was for today.”

“Oh, you're in his class.” Niko came to the realization of who was teaching Ichirou. “Alright then. I’ll bug you some other time soon.” Niko turned around and got into the car. “Bye, Ichirou, Leon, and some kid I don’t know.” He waved his hand out of the window as the car drove off.

“Oh, he knows Leon, but not my name?” Dameian pouted. “At least he could have said friend of Ichirou’s. Not just some kid.” They all turned back towards the school. “Take me to a party with you guys. I need to get known.”

“I don’t know. You are kind of immature to be hanging around with us. Besides, you are known, by a few people, just not everyone.” Leon told Dameian, pushing his shoulder, making Dameian stumble a bit. “You can’t even walk straight either.”

Ichirou couldn’t help but chuckle as Dameian put Leon in a chokehold and started roughing up his hair. “Call me immature, why don’t you! You’re the one who pushed me.”

“Stop it, get off of me!” Leon laughed as he tried to push Dameian away. Ichirou enjoyed his friends goofing around. He really wanders what high school was going to be like for them. He hoped they’d still be friends at least.

* * *

Ichirou was relaxing in his room, playing video games when he heard a big crash sound coming from the living room area. He opened his door to hear Mizuki and Kazayuki yelling at each other. He saw Yuriel peeking his head out of his room and looking at Ichirou with fright in his eyes. Eliza peeked her head out too, but Ichirou walked past her room and shook his head.

“How long! How long has this been going on again, Mizuki?” Kazayuki anger rose, his voice was deep and booming. Ichirou hated to hear his father angry.

“Does it matter? You’ve been smoking weed behind my back too! Mr. I’m too good for drugs!” Mizuki was a sobbing mess, yelling back at Kazayuki. Ichirou had made it to the corner of the kitchen, looking in at the scene. The TV was smashed, the furniture was disordered and the coffee table had been flipped.

“At least, I’m not junking on on cocaine and heroine! You know that shit is addictive and gets you so fucked up!” Kazayuki yelled back in anger.

“You are a fucking hypocrite, Kazayuki. Get the fuck out of my apartment! Take your shit and leave!” Mizuki throws what was a bag of joints at Kazayuki.

“Fine, you fucking cracked out whore!” Kazayuki growled and grabbed his bag of joints off the ground, not bothering to pick up the ones that fell out and stormed out of the condominium, taking the keys to his motorcycle before leaving.

Neither of them had noticed Ichirou. Mizuki was sitting on one of the cushions left on the couch, sobbing into his hands. Ichirou took a deep breath and walked into the war zone. Mizuki sniffled and looked up at Ichirou. “You going to bitch at me too?”

“No, I’m not. It’s not my place to say anything.” Ichirou told Mizuki. He kept his voice low.

“Fuck! Your fucking father pisses me off.” Mizuki growled. “He thinks it’s alright to have his drugs in easy access for you kids to find in the freezer, but I hide my shit in my drawers and he finds it and flips out on me for doing drugs. He’s such a hypocrite. Smoking weed is no different than what I do.”

Ichirou couldn’t even really agree or disagree with Mizuki. He knew the science and what the drugs could do to someone, but he didn’t know for himself personally. He would like to disagree with Mizuki, but cannabis was a drug, a gateway drug. Cocaine was something completely different. It was highly addictive, as far as Ichirou understood.

“I’m done with his shit. I’m fucking done.” Mizuki stood up and looked at Ichirou. “I’m kicking your father out for good. I don’t care where he goes, but you can stay here. You have done nothing wrong and I know your sister and brother need you, so you can stay. I’ll even start giving you an allowance.”

Ichirou didn’t know how to respond to this. Mizuki was kicking his father out, but not him? He may have not done anything wrong, but Ichirou didn’t like this. “You just want me to stay so I can look after my siblings, right? You never cared what happened to me before, but now you do?”

“Ichirou, your father was never a real parent to you. If you stay here, you will get the education you need. You will have a roof over your head, and not living in hotel rooms like your father will be doing. Here, you can be closer to your sister and brother, who love you dearly. This is the better life for you here, isn’t it?”

Ichirou wasn’t sure what was best for him, even now. He was only thirteen years old. He loved his siblings, but he also loved his father. He was sure his father would move back in with Junji and Kiyo, but what did he know? “I guess you are right, but I have some things to say about my life as well.”

“What would that be, Ichirou?” Mizuki stood there with his hands on his hips, trying to intimidate Ichirou into backing down.

“I don’t want you to tell me who I can and can’t hang out with. If I go to a party on the weekend with my friends, I’ll make a promise to be home at a certain time, whether you want me home that night or the next morning. I’ll keep my marks up to prove that I am doing well in school, as long as you let me have my freedom.” Ichirou wasn’t going to back down. Living here would be better than in a party house, though with Mizuki back into his drugs, who knows what kind of party place this could become. At least if he was living here, he could keep Eliza and Yuriel safe.

“Fine, whatever. I understand that I tried to get you and Niko to become friends and now that you are, it’s my fault for pushing it when you guys were younger than it’s stabbing me in the back. You can go to parties, only on weekends, and be home when I say to be home, but you have to tell me you are going out, so I can give you a time to come home by. Also, I don’t want you doing stupid shit. It’s going to sound like I’m being a hypocrite but you don’t need to be doing drugs either.” Mizuki crossed his arms over his chest and gave Ichirou that look like he meant his words. “And another thing, you come home once by a police escort and you leave too.”

Always a catch with Mizuki, but this catch wasn’t that bad. “Deal,” Ichirou said and held out his hand. Mizuki took his hand and shook it.

“Now, I need to go call your father and handle this. Clean up this mess.” Mizuki pointed to the living floor where the coffee table was flipped over, before turning away to the master bedroom. Ichirou wanted to listen in and hear what was all being said, but he knew better than that. He looked at the area and started pushing the cushions back on the couch the proper way and the flipped the table back around. He fixed the furniture back in place before he noticed the four joints that were laying on the floor.

Ichirou smirked. He picked them up and walked to the kitchen and opened a drawer where they kept things like freezer bags and sandwich bags and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag and put the four joint into it before stuffing it in his back pocket, before cleaning up the rest of the living room.

There was nothing he could do about the television set. The flat-screen was shattered, but lucky it wasn’t in pieces on the ground. Seeing he was done cleaning up the living room, he walked back to his bedroom, where both Eliza and Yuriel were sitting on his bed looking up at him.

“Is dad really gone?” Eliza asked, trying to fight back her tears. Yuriel and her were holding hands on Ichirou’s bed.

“Yeah. Mizuki is kicking out my father. And for good.” Ichirou sighed.

“Does that mean you are leaving too?” Yuriel sniffed. “I don’t want dad to leave either, but are you going to stay with us, with dad around?”

“I’ll be staying here, as long as Mizuki will allow me to. I’m not being kicked out.” Ichirou stood in front of them. “Nothing is going to change, I’ll still be around for when you guys need me. Only my father won’t be around, but don’t worry. I’m sure you can still see him, somehow.”

Eliza and Yuriel nodded. “Can we sleep with you tonight?” Yuriel looked at Ichirou, wanting to know if it was alright.

“Yeah, sure. Just let me get dressed and get dressed.” Ichirou ushered them out of his room for the moment. He pulled the plastic bag from his back pocket and looked around his room, there wasn’t anywhere for him to hide these joints. Walking over to the dresser, he opened up the bottom drawer where he put extra shirts in and stuffed the bag in the back under his shirts.

Ichirou closed the drawer and breathed a sigh of relief, before opening another drawer and pulling out a pair of sweat pants. He removed his shirt, pants, and boxers and slipped on the sweats. He wasn’t one for wearing anything to bed, but when the others wanted to sleep in bed with him, he made sure to have sweats on, at least.

Opening up his door, Ichirou shut off his video game system and seen that Yuriel came in, wearing a nightgown, followed by Eliza wearing a tank top and shorts. Eliza crawled into bed first and Yuriel looked at Ichirou. Ichirou got the hint and crawled in beside Eliza and then Yuriel climbed in, after shutting off the light. Ichirou threw a blanket over them and both Eliza and Yuriel cuddled in close to Ichirou, holding each other’s hands on Ichirou's bare chest. Ichirou slept with his hand behind his head.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Implied Underage Sexual Act

A few days later…

The kids get home from school but when they open the door, they are greeted by packing boxes. Taking off their shoes, they see Mizuki helping Kazayuki carry out boxes from the master bedroom. This was really happening, Kazayuki was moving out. It was real and now Ichirou was feeling the heartbreak of seeing his father leaving.

“Hey, chin up, kid,” Kazayuki spoke, putting the box down on the ground beside the box Mizuki put beside it. “All of you now listen. You’re not exactly little kids so I’m not going to lie to you. I am moving out, Mizuki and I are no longer together. We decided to keep the courts out of this, as long as it doesn’t become an issue between us. I will still be allowed to come by during the week in the evenings to see you kids, as long as Mizuki allows it. So, at least once a week we can still see each other.” He looked towards Ichirou. “If you wish to stay here, I have no issues with it, but you are going to have to listen to him and do as he says to stay living under this roof. I have been told you two have made a deal. Though, you both butt heads easily, so don’t start with each other. Or you will be coming to live with me, Ichirou.”

Ichirou nodded his head. There was always another catch, and that was it. If he and Mizuki fought, he would be kicked out, just like his father. It wasn’t going to be easy. They always seemed to have a disagreement going on between each other. Ichirou will have to be walking on eggshells around Mizuki from now on without his father here to calm them down.

“Now that you kids are here, help us pack up the truck I have waiting downstairs.” Kazayuki smiled with light laughter. Yuriel rushed over to him and gave Kazayuki a hug as Eliza walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. Ichirou only smirked, his father was taking this extremely well and Mizuki was calm, surprisingly calm. Ichirou narrowed his eyes at Mizuki and could see it there. His pupils were dilated. He was high right now, no wonder he wasn’t talking or telling Kazayuki what he should say or do right now.

Everyone helped out, all five of them. Moved boxes from the suite down to the parking garage and into the back of a truck. Ichirou noticed it to be Junji’s truck, so he guessed his father was borrowing it for the time being. Was his father going to move in with Junji and Kiyo, or was he going to get a place of his own? The smart thing would be to move in with his bandmates.

After putting in the last box, Kazayuki hugged Eliza and Yuriel, before he turned to Ichirou. “You guys mind if I have a talk with Ichirou?” He looked more at Mizuki, who nodded his head and the three left Ichirou and Kazayuki to stand by the truck. “I have something for you.” Kazayuki opened the truck door and handed Ichirou a mobile phone box. “I know Mizuki and I talked about it, and usually kids don’t get their phones till they are in high school or older around here, but I think you should have one now, especially to contact me without Mizuki knowing. That means you have to keep it on silent and keep it hidden. You don’t always have to carry it around, but if you do, keep it hidden.”

Ichirou nodded his head, he had asked for one before, because he wanted to have a phone to download games on and play them. Though, now Ichirou didn’t care about having a phone to play games on. It might just come in handy for getting a hold of other people, besides his father.

“Thank you, father,” Ichirou said, as he embraced his father for a moment. “I’ll miss you, you know that. Though, we will still see you.”

“I know, all of you will miss me.” Kazayuki chuckled and ruffled Ichirou’s hair. “Soon you will be as tall as me in a few years. You won’t be a kid either. Maybe then, you will move out and come live with your old man again.”

“Maybe, I still don’t trust Mizuki, but I have to keep the peace with him. It’ll be hard, but I know I can do it and watch out for Eliza and Yuriel.” Ichirou smirked as his father nodded his head and got into the truck, closing the door.

“I’ll be by again next week, I’ll text you the date. I already put my number in your phone.” Kazayuki told Ichirou before they waved goodbye and Kazayuki was gone. Ichirou looked at the phone in his hand, well it was in a box still, but now he was going to have to figure out how to sneak the box into the condominium without Mizuki seeing.

* * *

Being at home and coming home without Kazayuki walked through that door made it seemed lonely. Ichirou was feeling lonely about it. He looked to the wall beside the master bedroom where his father’s bass guitar used to be. He looked to the kitchen and already he was missing his father’s home-cooked meals, really all the kids were. Mizuki's cooking wasn’t the best and so far Mizuki hadn’t cooked anything either. They had takeout for supper these past few days. It just didn’t feel like home right now without his father around.

Mizuki had planned to take Eliza and Yuriel over to Yomi’s place for a sleepover and hang out with the other two kids that night. It was Friday night and Ichirou had no plans to go anywhere, but Mizuki had plans. What they were, Ichirou didn’t know. When they left, he went to his room and pulled out his mobile phone and turned it on. No new text messages. Of course, the only one who would text him was Kazayuki.

Even though his friends didn’t have a phone of their own, he made sure they had his number and he had their house numbers in his phone. He wanted Leon’s number just in case but took Dameian’s number just so he didn’t feel left out. He called Leon’s house. It rang once, then twice, and a third time before someone picked up the phone.

“Hello~,” came Mandy’s voice in a sing-song tone.

“Hey, this is Ichirou, if you-”

“Oh, yes, I remember you. Your father is Kazayuki. How is your father doing? I see him a lot more at the club with his friends. I wave to him, but he doesn’t seem to notice, or really he isn’t looking in my direction.” Mandy started carrying on her own conversation.

“Actually, I called to see if Leon is free this weekend.” Ichirou had to change the subject quickly when she gave him a pause.

“Oh, Leon is at Dameian’s this weekend. They switch off now and again.”

“Okay, thanks, Mandy,” Ichirou said and pulled the phone away from his ear to hear Mandy tell him to tell his father she said hi and hung up the phone.

Ichirou sighed. He had never been to Dameian’s house, nor was he invited there. He had to give it a try anyway. He dialed the number and held his breath. Only two rings and it was answered.

“Hello?” Darius’s voice came through on the other end, he sounded more like a small child than the usual girly voice he had grown into.

“Hey, Darius. It’s Ichirou.”

“Oh, Ichirou. What a pleasant surprise. Guessing Dameian finally gave you the house number.”

“Yeah, he did. The reason I’m calling is that I wanted to know what their plans are for this weekend. Do you have any idea?” Ichirou decided to ask Darius, he would know.

“Um, we can only have one friend over at a time. Mama’s rules. It's a shame we can’t each have a friend over, but I’ll tell you what, I hear there is a party going on at Kojima’s tonight. It’s some girl’s seventeenth birthday party, her parents are out of town, but she didn’t want to have her placed trashed, so Kojima offered his place. So it’ll be her friends, plus Kojima’s friends, Leon is going with Dameian and me, so maybe you could find a ride there and I’ll make sure one of us is outside waiting for you.”

Ichirou chuckled. “I don’t need you guys to help me get into a party at Kojima’s. Only Niko could stop Kojima from kicking me out.” Ichirou knew Darius must have heard from Dameian what happened that night. “But, I’ll tell you what, if I can get in, I’ll be there.”

“Okay, sounds good. Also, save me a dance, Ichirou. I heard you are a really good dancer.” Darius' voice came through in a giggle.

“Sure,” was what Ichirou said before he hung up.

Well, he had plans for tonight, though how those plans would go was a mystery. Kojima hated him and Ichirou didn’t like Kojima, but they both seemed to get along as long as Niko was around. He rubbed his collar bone, just remembering Kojima slamming him into the wall. Kojima’s father had a secret, and Kojima knew about it, and Ichirou only knew a part of it. The principal was jacking off at school. Though, the way Kojima got angry about it, made it seem like it wasn’t something good. Sure, jacking off at school is one thing, could be brushed off as a joke maybe.

Shaking his head, Ichirou didn’t want to think about it anymore. What happened behind closed doors wasn’t his business. He got up and decided to have a quick shower and get out of the clothes he wore today at school. When he came out of the shower a few minutes later wearing nothing but a towel, Mizuki walked back into the suite.

“Ichirou,” Mizuki came over in his direction and Ichirou looked at his room, seeing that he left his phone on the bed. He turned and walked towards Mizuki who was coming in his direction. “I’m having some friends over, so I was going to ask if you would stay in your room tonight?”

Ichirou shook his head and seen the look of disappointment in Mizuki’s face. “I was going to ask you if I could go hang out with Leon and Dameian tonight?”

“Well, that’s even better.” Mizuki smiled at Ichirou. “You can go over to your friend’s place. Call your father to come to pick you up and take you. You can come home tomorrow morning, is that alright?” Ichirou nodded his head, he was getting the picture now. Mizuki was going to have his friends over for a small party and probably get into drugs. It shouldn’t be a mystery or a surprise to him anymore, especially since Mizuki was now officially single.

“Sure, I’ll do that after I get dressed.” Ichirou turned to his bedroom as Mizuki pulled out his mobile phone and called someone. Once inside his room, he shut and locked the door and belly-flopped on his bed. Grabbing his phone, he quickly called his father. It rang three times before a voice mail message came through. He hung up and texts his father instead.

He walked over to his dresser, grabbed a black shirt with some death metal band logo on it. Ichirou pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and put them on. He looked at all his jeans and decided to wear the jeans with rips and holes all down the legs. He looked at himself in the mirror and seen that his eyes were dark red. He wondered if he could make them go brighter with some eyeliner, but he didn’t have any, nor did he know if Yuriel or Eliza had any. He skipped the look and just ran his hand through his hair, before grabbing the gothic cross necklace off his mirror and put that on.

Ichirou turned back to his bed and looked at his phone. No messages. He tried calling once more. Three rings and the voice mail message came on. He frowned but didn’t care. He could walk there, there was just enough light out as the sun was going down. He picked up his mobile phone and was about to put it in his nightstand again, but thought against it. He slipped the phone between his boxers and lower abs, it stuck to his skin there for the moment and it was the perfect hiding place.

Then he remembers, he remembered the joints he had. He was sure if Niko wasn’t there, he might offer up the four joints to Kojima as a peace offering gift for the night. He walked over to his dresser, opened the bottom drawer where he stuffed them, and grabbed the plastic bag he had put them in. Carefully he put them into his back pocket, before leaving his room.

Seeing Mizuki outside have a cigarette and talking on the phone still, Ichirou picked up the house phone and tried once more to call his father. It rang it’s three rings before the voice mail message came through. He hung up the phone. He walked back down the hall to the bathroom and closed the door behind him as he pulled out his mobile phone and just decided to text his father that he was going out and that he was only asking for a ride, but he had another ride coming to get him. That would stop his father from calling the condominium and getting Ichirou in trouble for what he was about to do.

“Hey, Ichirou. Is your father coming to pick you up?” Mizuki asked as he walked in from the patio. Ichirou was reaching a hand into the fridge to grab a blood package and drink it before he left.

“Yeah, he said he would come by in a bit for me.” Ichirou sucked bad on the blood packages slowly, buying himself some time.

“Okay, well, I’m going to shower. If your father gets here before I get out, you have fun tonight with your friends and stay safe.” Mizuki turned and walked into the master bedroom. Ichirou nodded his head and once the door to the bedroom was closed, Ichirou sucked back the blood as quickly as he could and threw it in the trash. He waited for the shower water to start before he walked over to the door, slipped on his converse shoes, tied them up, and left.

Taking the elevator down, Ichirou breathed a sigh of relief once he was outside. It was a crisp cool night as the sun was setting. He started walking away and pulled out his cell phone to look at it again. No messages. He slipped it into his back pocket this time and kept on walking. He figured by the time he got there, the party would be started and guests showing. So, he wasn’t in a rush as the sun was setting in the night sky.

The walk was long, but Ichirou’s leg didn’t tire out. He walked this way before, all the way to the school. As he got to the school, he started heading the way he knew was towards Leon’s house. That when a car pulled up alongside him. Ichirou just kept walking, as the window rolled down.

“Hey, Ichirou, where are you going? You are pretty far from home?” Ichirou stopped and turned to see Niko sitting in the passenger seat, he was leaning over the driver, Hitsu.

“Oh, hey.” Ichirou chuckled not recognizing the car. “I was headed to meet up with Leon and Dameian. Where are you guys headed?”

“Kojima’s. Guessing Kojima informed Leon as Leon is on the football team.” Niko giggled. “There’s a party going on at his place tonight, so hop on in.”

Ichirou smirked. There were headed in the same direction and Ichirou didn’t let it slip that Leon was going to the party, Niko just figured it out himself. Ichirou walked up the to car, as the back door opened. There in the back was Lyle, some girl and another male that Ichirou didn’t know. “Come on in, Mini Ka-yu. You can sit on my lap.” Lyle patted his knee. It was going to be a tight squeezed, but Ichirou managed to sit on Leon’s lap, even if his knees were digging into the driver’s seat. Ichirou wasn’t short and he found it funny that the girl and the other guy were shorter than him and he had to sit on Lyle’s lap who was tall just like him.

They made it to the house and pulled into the driveway as there weren’t any other cars there, but there were guests on the porch outside. Ichirou basically fell out of the car, the easiest way out of the car, after being cramped inside. Lyle laughed at him and helped him up. Hitsu locked his car once everyone was out and the group headed inside. The other guy and girl headed in another direction as Ichirou was headed to the kitchen, following Lyle and Hitsu, Niko had stopped to talk to other guests.

Once inside the kitchen, Lyle lead over the counter and passed them each a beer each. “Starters. Till Kojima decides to bring out the harder stuff.” Ichirou nodded his head and opened the can.

“Leon the beast is back baby!” A voice was heard calling out and Ichirou turned to the living room as Leon, Dameian, and Darius appeared walking in. Ichirou smirked as Dameian waved his handfast like in front of himself with a grin on his face.

“Didn’t think you’d get here before we got here,” Leon commented as he grabbed himself, Dameian, and Darius each a beer.

“Well, I was walking here, then I got picked up.” Ichirou pointed behind himself with his thumb to Hitsu.

“Hit, I didn’t know you did carpool. If I’d have known I would get you to pick me up every time.” Leon called out to the other.

“Yeah, fees $50 per person I have to pick up.” Hitsu joked back. Leon pouted at hearing that at first before laughing.

Ichirou watched them joke back and forth and watched Dameian down his and Darius’ beers before he was walking around the island to grab another. “Okay, who let the beer chugger into my house?” Kojima was walking in from the backyard and spotted Dameian grabbing two beers, handing one to Darius, and opening another beer for himself.

“That would be me.” Leon raised his hand, Kojima shook his head but didn’t say anything else, till his eyes landed on Ichirou.

“What is the punk doing here?” Kojima was not impressed with Ichirou being here.

Ichirou raised his free hand. “I come in peace. Niko’s here with us.” Kojima looked around and didn’t see Niko in the room. “He’s talking in another room. I brought peace offerings.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the plastic bag with four still intact joints.

Kojima took the bag from him and opened it up. He took a sniff. “Where did you get this stuff?” He eyed Ichirou.

“My father, though he doesn’t know I have them this time?” Ichirou chuckled, almost nervously. Kojima nodded his head.

“You got some premium shit. Homegrown and well taken care of.” Kojima passed the bag back over to Ichirou, but not before taking one of the joints out and putting it behind his ear. “You can stay.”

Dameian was looking at Ichirou with a surprised look. “Man, you didn’t tell me you smoked? You gotta share later.” Dameian’s breath was already smelling like beer, and Ichirou shrugged his shoulders.

Ichirou wrapped up the plastic around the joints and put it back in his back pocket. “We’ll see. You’d have to find us a lighter.”

Dameian grinned wide, baring his fangs and snapped his fingers, and there appeared to be a flame on his thumb. “Special abilities like this come in handy.” Ichirou was amazed, as Dameian blew the flame out. He didn’t know much about Dameian, but he was learning about his friend.

“I told you no fire tricks in the house, beer chugger. Take it outside.” Kojima warned Dameian with a grin on his face. Seemed Kojima had become more acquainted with everyone, in a friendly way, but not with Ichirou. He used to bully with his friends, but they seemed to let the past be in the past and get along now. Except Kojima and him. Ichirou figured Kojima wasn’t going to forgive him for beating him up.

Ichirou finished he beer and put it down on the counter that Kojima was standing behind. “Where do I put the empties?” Kojima looked at him and pointed out to a couple of trash cans that had labels for cups and beer cans. Ichirou nodded his head and tossed over the can with ease.

Turning around he saw Darius standing there against the wall, hugged himself. He was wearing a tight blue dress that seemed to show he had curves, but wait, Darius never had curves. He was flat-chested, but his torso seemed to have an hourglass appearance, not a huge change but Ichirou noticed. Ichirou walked up to him and leaned against the wall beside him.

“What’s up?” Ichirou asked Darius.

“Oh, I’m just waiting. A few girls I have met at these parties are going to show up here.” Darius gave him a soft smile. He may have makeup on, but it wasn’t caked on and his long red hair was done up with soft curls hanging down from a ponytail.

“Why do you seem so out of place?” Ichirou asked, this would be the first time he ever had a conversation with Darius alone and he was asking him questions.

Darius nodded towards Dameian, who was talking with a few jocks that came in through the back door and goofing around with them. “Dameian is always the center of attention. I just feel like even if I am myself and have a good time, Dameian will always be remembered, but not me. I don’t even have a nickname besides being Dameian’s twin.”

“Maybe, you just have to know how to put yourself out there. I mean, you act shy, not confident like Dameian or even Niko. I’m too quiet so I don’t even have a name for myself, besides the nerd that beat up Kojima and that was before I started coming to parties. This is only the third real party I have been to.” Ichirou told Darius hoping to lift his spirits.

“Well, I just feel like I don’t belong anywhere. Even in my own skin.” Darius sighed. “Don’t let me bring you down to my level. Go have fun, I’ll have my own fun.” Darius handed Ichirou his unopened can of beer and walked off into the living room. Ichirou looked at the can of beer, then felt eyes on him, Kojima was looking at him. Ichirou walked over and put the can of beer on the counter.

“If I ask you for a drink, you're not going to try and drug me again, are you?” Ichirou gave Kojima a serious look.

Kojima shook his head. “No, you gave me your peace offering for tonight.” He took the full beer can and placed back behind the counter, seems this counter had a cooling system in it to keep the beers cold. “I’ll make you the first drink of the night, what will it be?”

Ichirou smirked. “Rum.” Kojima nodded, and brought out a rum bottle and a plastic cup, he poured double-no triple the amount of alcohol in it and poured in the mix.

“I’m not going to drug you, just get you wasted.” Kojima grinned with a chuckle as he handed Ichirou his drink. Ichirou took the drink and sipped it, it was strong, he could feel the burn in his throat.

“Thanks.” Ichirou raised his cup to Kojima and turned away.

“Birthday girl is here everybody!” Came the call from a girl at the front door and the whole house shouted happy birthday. She was noticeable when she walked into the kitchen. Straight black hair and dark eyes, wearing a ‘Birthday Girl’ tiara and a sash that said ‘happy birthday’. She had a few friends behind her as they walked up to Kojima and ordered their drinks. “Thanks, Kojima for hosting. I owe you big time.” And she gave Kojima a wink, before turning around and seeing Ichirou. The look in her eyes showed she was surprised, but the smile on her face was trying to hide that surprised. “And who are you?”

Before Ichirou could even answer, Lyle came over and put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders. “This right here is Mini Ka-yu. Let that be known to everyone!” He shouted out in the kitchen.

“Well, hello Mini Ka-yu. My name is Samantha.” She smiled at him and held out her hand, as she bit her bottom lip. Ichirou felt a reaction take over, as he took her hand and kissed the back of her hand, his dark red eyes never leaving hers.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear Samantha. Have a wonderful birthday party.” Ichirou spoke to her, which made her blush and giggle with her friends before they all turned and left, heading for the sitting room which was the dance floor area in the house.

“Dude, where did that come from?” Lyle asked as Leon was looking at Ichirou like he was crazy or something.

“You so pulled off the same move your father did to my sister.” Leon started laughing. “It’s like you are old school like your father.”

“Called it. He is Mini Ka-yu to the bone.” Hitsu was sitting at the table which was slowly turning into a poker table with cards and chips on the table and a few other guests Ichirou remembered seeing playing poker last Friday.

“Guess the punk has a new nickname. I call to deal with that.” Kojima said, looking over at them. “You are no longer the nerd anymore, punk. You will be known from this day forward as Mini Ka-yu.”

Ichirou raised a brow. “But you are still going to call me punk, right?”

Kojima nodded his head with a slight smirk on his face. “You will forever be a punk to me.”

“Ouch, man. Don’t be rude to Mini Ka-yu. He’s our buddy now.” Lyle said as he kept his arm around Ichirou’s shoulder. “If you have a problem with him being around us, we’ll all take you out on the field.”

“Try it and see what happens. I’m more solid than the rest of you and can bulldoze you all.” Kojima laughed, as he turned to make another drink for another teen.

“Don’t worry. You made a name for yourself, and still, keep impressing everyone. Kojima may not like you, but you made a peace offering earlier so he’ll warm up to you eventually. Just don’t get on his bad side and as long as we are around, we got your back, not just Niko.” Lyle looked around. “Hey, where is Niko?”

Dameian pointed towards the staircase where you could barely see the dance floor. “Dancing his life away with the others.” He walked up to Kojima and grinned with fangs sticking out.

“Seriously, I don’t have all the beer you can drink. I’m going to have to start charging you for beers.” Kojima shook his head as he placed another beer can on the counter for Dameian.

Dameian pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and placed a $100 bill on the counter. “Charge me, I don’t care.” He passed it over to Kojima and Kojima took it and pocketed the money before putting another beer can on the counter for Dameian to take.

“Seriously, Dameian. You should cut back on drinking so much. You do get stupid silly.” Leon warned Dameian, who just gave him a happy face.

“I came to party and get drunk. There isn’t much of a party yet and I’m still sober, so I’m getting drunk.” Dameian laughed as he down one beer quite fast before opening his second beer, and drinking it just as equally fast as the first.

Kojima threw the cans away and place another beer on the counter. “Drink it slowly, or I’m cutting you off.”

“Eye Eye, Captain.” Dameian laughed and picked up the beer.

“Dude, that reminds me of last Friday.” The one jock sitting at the poker table was the jock Ichirou had healed. “When Ichirou was given that blood package and he sucked it back like it was air.”

“Oh, yeah.” Hitsu agreed with him. “How about we make a wager, Kojima. See which one of these young boys can drink the fastest before they puke?”

Kojima chuckled. “I’ll get the funnels.” He bent down and pulled out two funnels. Dameian was looked excited. Ichirou didn’t know what was going on. “How about it, punk? You think you out drink your friend in a beer-chugging contest?”

Ichirou looked at those funnels and then looked at Kojima. “How about you set up twenty cans each and we see who can drink the fastest that way.” He didn’t know what a funnel was or how it would work, but he didn’t want to get sloshed.

“Alright, we’ll do it your way, but let me get it set up to place bets on you guys.” Kojima winked as he put the funnels away and brought out a small chalkboard already writing out on it. Someone saw the chalkboard from the living room and called out there was a bet going on. Seemed more people appeared in the kitchen with money in their hands to place bets on. Hitsu got up and walked over to Kojima, helping him out with people putting their money on beer chugger or Mini Ka-yu. There was more to it as they had to guess how many cans would be down before the winner was decided.

Ichirou shook his head and moved away from the crowd and stood by the wall beside the staircase, Niko popped out from behind and almost made Ichirou jumped. “Hey, there’s a bet going on, what’s it about?” He looked at Ichirou, eyeing him up.

“Drinking contest between me and Dameian. Who can drink the most cans out of twenty before the other.” Ichirou informed him.

“We all know Dameian can drink and drink them fast, but are you sure you can go against him?” Niko smiled, looking sweetly at Ichirou.

“I think we will just have to find out. I can suck fast, but drinking I don’t know if I can. They were going to use funnels, but I stopped that idea.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. He still would have to find a place to sleep tonight or just go back home. He didn’t want to be completely drunk.

“Yeah, I don’t think Mizuki would like it if you showed up completely drunk after you walked over here.” Niko giggled.

“Mizuki doesn't know I walked. He thinks my father came and picked me up.” Ichirou said.

“Wait, what?” Niko raised a brow. Ichirou realized Niko didn’t know of his father and Mizuki breaking up. Though, it wasn’t his place to say it right?

“Mizuki and Kazayuki are no longer together. I still live with Mizuki. Mizuki thinks I’m spending the night at a friend’s place and that my father picked me up and took me there. Really, I snuck out and walked to the party, before you guys picked me up.” Ichirou spoke in a hushed voice so only Niko could hear.

“Oh, wow. We are going to have to find you a place to stay tonight.” Niko winked. “There is always my place and my room.” He turned and looked over at Hitsu. “Hit, can Ichirou crash at our place tonight?”

Hitsu, who was busy with writing down names and taking money, called back out to Niko. “Sure, Mini Ka-yu can. Though, he’s sleeping in your room if you don’t come home.”

Niko giggled as he turned back to Ichirou. “There you have a place to sleep tonight. I’ll try not to party too hard, then we can go back to my place. Though, you will be sleeping on the couch. Lyle and Hit will make sure of that.”

Ichirou nodded his head. Seems like the guys were looking out for Niko, in more ways than one. They’ve accepted him being around, but they didn’t trust him to be alone with Niko, though Niko was technically an adult by Vampire standards they were just looking out for him.

As the bets came in, so did the announcement of someone else entering the house. “Ryoji, baby! You’re here!” Ichirou could tell it was Samantha, the birthday girl, who called out to Ryoji. Ichirou rolled his eyes. He wished Ryoji hadn’t come so soon. It wasn’t even midnight yet.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss your birthday, Sammy.” Ryoji was heard saying, and a moment later he walked into the kitchen and up to Kojima. “Hey, I’ll have the usual.” He told Kojima, who nodded his head and started making his drink. “Hey, did you see the nerd here yet? I kind of wanted to get here before him, so he wouldn’t show up at all. That bastard pisses me off the way he dances and grinds on Niko.”

Little did Ryoji know, Ichirou and Niko were in the kitchen, basically in the corner, and heard his words. The guys at the poker stopped their game for the moment and looked in Kojima’s direction. Kojima didn’t even get the chance to say a word as Niko walked up to Ryoji and slapped him in the face.

“You don’t dare talk bad about Ichirou and I can dance with whoever I want to dance with.” Niko was fuming at Ryoji’s words as Ryoji turned around, holding his hand to his face where Niko slapped him and seen Ichirou stand behind Niko.

Ryoji’s eyes narrowed at Ichirou before his gaze wandered to Niko. “You think you’re so tough with all your bodyguards around you, but you’re not so tough when we are alone.” His words came out like venom to Niko, who took a step back. “That’s what I thought.”

Ichirou didn’t like the defeated look in Niko’s eyes. One moment he was angry, but the next, he was defeated, by Ryoji’s words alone. Ichirou stepped up and put an arm around Niko, receiving a death glare from Ryoji. “Shouldn’t you go and party with your friends over there?” Ichirou nodded his head towards the living room. “You won this round, so bugger off.”

“Fuck you, nerd.” Ryoji picked up his drink and stalked away, back into the living room. Ichirou turned Niko around to face and lifted his chin so Ichirou could look at Niko in the eyes.

“You best explain to me why I just let him walk away after hearing those words from his mouth.” Ichirou was dead serious, and even the other guys were listening, they seemed to want to know the truth as well.

“I-I…” Niko started to stumble over the words he was trying to say. “You see… Ryoji made a deal… I just have to… I do it for the drugs…” Niko wasn’t making any sense as tears were forming in his eyes.

Ichirou breathed in deeply and released. “Niko, what deal did you make with Ryoji for drugs? I’m not going to be mad, but if you don’t tell me, I’ll go in there and find out for myself from him.”

“Ryoji pays his brother for the drugs I take, as long as I suck him off. I can’t buy drugs and keep myself living in the apartment complex with other guys. I hate myself for doing that to a twelve-year-old, but I need the drugs, really I want the drugs. Though, I can’t support myself and pay rent. So, I asked Ryoji to slid me a deal, he discussed it with his brother, that as long as Ryoji pays for my drug habit, he doesn’t care what I do to get the drugs from Ryoji.”

Everyone became quiet. Everyone in the room had emotions fluctuating, between anger, rage, disappointment, and even regret. Ichirou couldn’t pinpoint exactly who was feeling what emotion, but all he knew was Niko was feeling guilty and regret what he’s done.

Ichirou nodded his head. He let go of Niko and walked away towards the patio doors, grabbed Dameian’s arm as he passed him. “Kojima, get the booze ready.” Was all Ichirou sat as he walked out to the backyard. He needed to calm down, he needed something to relax. He reached in his back pocket, pulled out the bag of joints, and put one between his lips, and Dameian got the hint, snapping his fingers and producing a flame for Ichirou as Ichirou used his flame to light up his joint.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Underage Drinking, Underage Sexual Acts, Underage Sex (Non-consensual)

“I think the beer chugger has this in the park.”

“No way the new guy is going to take Dameian’s title away.”

“Hey, I placed my bet on the underdog. Never know what will happen.”

“You can take him, Mini Ka-yu.”

The guests from inside the house had made their way to the backyard, as Kojima and a few of the poker jocks set up a table and all forty beer cans. Twenty in front of Dameian and the rest in front of Ichirou. They were both smirking at each other, high as a kite they both were after sharing that joint, but that didn’t mean this wasn’t war. Dameian told Ichirou he was going down. Ichirou told Dameian he won’t lose to a kid like him.

“Alright! When I blow the whistle, start chugging.”

Ichirou nodded, Dameian nodded, then the whistle was blown. Dameian picked up the first can cracking it open and chugged the whole thing back in a seconds before grabbing the next. Ichirou watched Dameian drink the first can before he picked his up and brought the bottom edge of the can to his mouth and sunk his fangs in and sucked the whole can back, making the can crush in his hand. Then he went on to the next and then the next.

Dameian had to pause of his sixth one, needing to burp from the foam the beer created, and then he carried on. Ichirou was catching up to Dameian fast only two cans away from him, till Dameian had to pause a second time, giving Ichirou the lead. Ichirou wasn’t stopping, the way he punctured the can, less foam was created. With his fangs piercing the can and using his mouth to suck by the contents of the can, he was doing pretty well.

The two were neck in neck at the last few cans. Dameian saw this and just kept going, though it was clear on his face there was another belch needing to be released, so he was slowing down. He got to the last can, just as Ichirou got to the last can and before Dameian could finish the can, Ichirou slammed the last can down on his side of the table.

Everyone was caught by surprise. “The winner is… Mini Ka-yu!” Hitsu called out and the crowd the was surrounding them cheered. Ichirou looked at Dameian with a smirk on his face and Dameian raised his last can to Ichirou, before finishing off the last sip.

Leon came over to Ichirou, patted him on the back, same with a few others, until Niko came into Ichirou’s view, ready to hug him. Though, Ichirou shot him a look that could have killed Niko right on the spot there. Niko frowned as Ichirou and the rest of the crowd moved back into the house, this was not left unseen by Ryoji, who was standing on the porch, as he was just spectating the event not caring about it.

Once the event was done, the money was divided and handed out to those who picked Ichirou winning by one can left on Dameian’s side of the table. Some of the kids congratulated Ichirou on the victory, even though they lose their money. Darius came up to Ichirou to congratulate him, but Ichirou stopped him from pulling away from the hug.

“I owe you a dance, don’t I?” Ichirou whispered in Darius' ear, and Darius nodded his head. He was in better spirits as the party went on, which made Ichirou happy that he was. Ichirou took his hand and walked through the kitchen, and the living room passed the staircase into the sitting room. Few teens had already made their way back inside. The music was still going. Ichirou stopped and turned towards Darius. Darius was starting to move to the music but seemed stiffed to Ichirou, unlike Niko, who always started and lead them.

It was going to be Ichirou starting and leading them off as he put his hands on Darius’ hips and swayed them with his. Once Darius started moving his hips on his own, no longer stiff, Ichirou made him gasp when he turned Darius’ back to his front and held Darius close to him.

“Just move with me to the music. It’s easier to follow.” Ichirou whispered in Darius’ ear and the other nodded his head. Ichirou wasn’t feeling it with him. It wasn’t the same as Niko, who just seemed to fit so good against him, but he was making it work, keeping his hands on Darius’ hips and them both moving together. Darius wrapped his arms over and around to Ichirou’s head and he turned his head towards Ichirou’s face. He smiled softly, Ichirou smirked.

Letting his one hand move up Darius’ body, he pauses when his hand stopped on Darius’ chest. He felt different, Darius was wearing something around his torso to make it seem like he had a figure under that dress. He let his other hand down to Darius’ thigh and stop there.

As beautiful as Darius seemed up close and personal, Ichirou just couldn’t find the moves to put on Darius. He always just let his body do whatever, but they weren’t coming to him. Then Darius made the first move, kissing Ichirou on the cheek. That took a lot of courage to do for the young one, and Ichirou could see it in his eyes, that he was being denied by Ichirou.

Ichirou didn’t like that look, nor did he let that look stay in his eyes for another second, before Ichirou locked lips with Darius. It was a kiss, a small kiss, but it was Darius who was hungry for the kiss more than Ichirou was. Darius opened his mouth slightly and Ichirou continued. Eyes closed, open mouth kissing, till Ichirou slipped his tongue in first and Darius did the same to him. Ichirou didn’t know if it was him or if it was Darius who made this kiss seem less passionate or just a bad kiss to begin with.

Didn’t matter as the song changed and Darius stepped away from him and turned towards Ichirou, with a soft smile and blush on his face. “Thank you for the dance,” Darius said, as he stepped up to Ichirou and kissed him on the cheek. Ichirou smirked before Darius walked away towards his friends and Ichirou turned around just in time to see Ryoji holding Niko’s hand going up the stairs. Niko wasn’t looking in his direction, but Ryoji was with a wicked grin on his face. Ichirou balled up his hands, the rage was setting in, but he had to calm down.

Ichirou entered the kitchen to see the poker players back playing their game, Dameian and Leon were even playing, and Kojima serving up some drinks to a couple of girls, who were there for the birthday party. Ichirou walked up to him, once the girls turned away and left the room, and grabbed the front of Kojima’s shirt and brought his face close to Ichirou’s face.

“You let Ryoji take Niko upstairs?” Ichirou growled at him. Kojima narrowed his eyes and grabbed Ichirou’s wrist and tried to pull Ichirou’s hand away from his shirt, but Ichirou wasn’t letting go that easily.

“There’s nothing we can do about Ryoji,” Kojima growled back, baring his fangs.

“Ichirou, let him go.” Leon walked over to Ichirou and grabbed his shoulders.

“Yeah, Mini Ka-yu. As much as we protect Niko, what he does with Ryoji is out of our control. Mainly because of Ryoji’s brother.” Hitsu sighed, looking down in defeat.

“Let go of me and take it up with Ryoji, yourself. We know his brother and we have told you what his brother is capable of. You want to sign your death warrant, go ahead and beat the shit out of Ryoji. I don’t care if you do, just don’t break anything.” Kojima growled, tightening his grip on Ichirou’s wrist. He wanted this to happen between Ryoji and Ichirou, so he was going to let it happen. That much was clear for the grin on Kojima’s face.

Finally letting go of Kojima, Ichirou growled as he turned and stalked away from the kitchen, everyone who was in the kitchen was watching where Ichirou was going and as Ichirou headed up the stairs, everyone took off after him to see what was going to happen. There were four doors, all closed, but Ichirou didn’t care as he opened each one, catching whoever in the act, before moving on to the next. Apologies were heard from the group behind Ichirou as they closed the doors he opened until he got to the fourth door.

Letting out a heavy breath, Ichirou opened the door to see Ryoji leaning against the bed with his pants down and Niko on his knees in front of Ryoji. Anger flared in Ichirou and he snapped going into the room and swinging a fist at Ryoji’s face. Niko shrieked in fright of Ichirou’s action and Hitsu was there to pull him up and out of the way.

Ichirou didn’t give Ryoji a break as he swung another fist at Ryoji’s face. The other was more concerned about pulling up his pants then protecting his face, as a third punch came to his face. Then the fight was on as Ryoji kicked his foot into Ichirou’s face, make him stumble back a step, but Ichirou didn’t stop there, he kicked his foot at Ryoji in the gut, and grabbed his head, and smashed it twice against his knee. Ryoji held his head for a second before Ichirou released it and Ryoji slammed his whole body against Ichirou’s body, pushing Ichirou’s back into the dresser that was there. He groaned in pain, as Ryoji stood up grabbed Ichirou’s shirt, and started punching him in the face.

Ryoji’s face was bloodied, and now Ichirou’s face was bloodied but that didn’t stop Ichirou from timing his hand right from blocking his face and grabbing Ryoji’s fist at the same time. Ichirou got up off the floor, as Ryoji tried to use his other fist to punch Ichirou, but Ichirou managed to grab that fist too. Now, Ichirou held both of Ryoji’s fists and he used his head to smash into Ryoji’s face to gain the upper hand. Ryoji being caught off guard by Ichirou’s head, Ichirou let go of his fists and punched Ryoji with an uppercut before punching him in the gut. Ryoji fell to the floor against the bed and Ichirou stood above him, both were panting, but it was Ryoji, who wore a grin on his face.

“You are so dead, nerd.” It was Ryoji’s lasts words before Ichirou kicked his head and knocked him out. Ichirou raised his hand to his face with his back turned and healed up all the cuts and bruises he got from Ryoji, before turning around. In the doorway was Kojima, Hitsu, Niko, Lyle, Leon, and Dameian. Those were just the ones Ichirou knew of a few others were there too. He took a step forward and everyone seemed to move back away from him. He didn’t care as he continued to walk out of the room and walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Ichirou realized the whites of his eyes had turned red to match his own eyes. He silently cursed himself and cleaned up the blood on his face and hands. He held his hand to his chest to see the damage, what damaged Ryoji caused to his back, only a little bruising so Ichirou healed that as well and his knuckles too once he realized they were bloodied by his blood. He looked refreshed and healed, not a cut or scratch on him, but his eyes were red. Hunger was setting in finally. He didn’t realize he was hungry for blood. He had his usual dose of blood today, even had one before he left. His drunken state was gone, even the high he had felt before was gone, but hunger was there.

Sighing, he knew he should leave, there were too many people around, even humans that Ichirou would just love to feed on, right at this moment. When Ichirou opened the door, there in front of the door was Niko holding a blood package. Ichirou looked at him and then at the blood, he needed the blood so he snatched it away and sunk his fang in, sucking back on the blood as fast as possible. Though, he was caught up in the blood to realize Niko had pushed him back into the bathroom and closed the door.

Ichirou pulled the empty plastic package away from his mouth, he seen Niko leaning against the door, with his head down. “You should move out of the way,” Ichirou spoke to Niko, with no emotion in his voice.

“I can’t let you Ichirou. Not after what you did.” Niko looked up at Ichirou, tears in his eyes, his lip was quivering. “They called Ryoji’s brother here, to come to get Ryoji. It’s not safe for you. His brother, he will try to find you and hunt you down. I have to hide you, that’s my job.”

“How are you going to do that? I don’t care if I have to stand toe to toe with Ryoji’s brother. He sold you those drugs, he turned you into the addict you’ve become, just like Mizuki. I will hurt him too.” Ichirou growled at Niko.

“He’ll kill you before you can even hurt him, he’s dangerous Ichirou. Please, let me hide you. Kojima said we can hide in his father’s room as long as we keep the lights off.” Niko gave Ichirou a pleading look.

Ichirou didn’t like that look, how Niko had the same effect of him as Eliza and Yuriel, he wouldn’t understand. “Fine, let’s go hide.” Niko grabbed Ichirou’s hand and took Ichirou to Kojima’s father’s room and shut the door they couldn’t see a thing in this room, but the second of light they did see, Ichirou and Niko knew where the bed was at least and crouched down on the other side of the bed away from the door.

There was the scent in this room. That same scent of arousal that Ichirou smelled before, but that was in school. And that was in the principal’s office. Ichirou sniffed, it wasn’t a faint smell but one that here, right now. Niko grabbed Ichirou’s arm and whispered in his ear. “What is it?”

Ichirou couldn’t see Niko, but he knew where his face way and turned to it. “I think someone is in this room with us.” Ichirou moved to crawl on the floor and grabbed Niko’s hand to follow him they couldn’t see where they were going but Ichirou was feeling out the floor till he got closer to the scent, and then there was a wall in front of him. No, it was a door. He found the handle and slowly opened the door a crack. There were pictures on the wall that Ichirou could see, but the pictures made Ichirou feel uneasy, they were pornographic photos of young children and teens. He opened the door a bit more and Niko gasped at what he saw. Though, Ichirou looked in more and saw his principal, sitting at a computer with4 screens, one that Ichirou recognized as the room where he had just been in fighting Ryoji.

Ichirou backed up, softly closed the door, trying to not freak out, trying to remain calm as possible. The older man was a creep, a man who likes little children, a pedophile. It made sense now, why Kojima got mad at him and pushed him into the wall, he wanted to keep his father’s secret, a secret. He knew and he didn’t care what his father was doing. He must know, he had to know, he did know. And he let people come to his house and party here and even had four bedrooms unlocked for others to go into and screw around in, so his father could get off on it. Was Kojima the same way, or was he just hiding it?

Niko was panting, he had seen the pictures but not Kojima’s father. “What was that? Who’s collection is that? Why are there kids I know personally on that wall?” Niko wasn’t keeping his voice down completely, but Ichirou shut his mouth with his hand as fast as he could, before the door they had just opened, reopened again to the principal staring down at them both.

“What do we have here? Ichirou and even little Niko.” The older man looked at them both. Niko tried to dash for the door, but the older man pushed him hard to the floor and locked the door with a key from the inside and pocketed the key in his pants, that Ichirou could now see were undone and his erect cock was poking out from his underwear. “You two aren’t going anywhere now. I warned Kojima to keep this door locked unless he wanted his friends to experience something far worse than they could possibly imagine.” He chuckled.

“Help!” Niko screamed out and Ichirou quickly crawled to him and covered his mouth. Ichirou wanted help to come but he didn’t want Kojima to know that they knew the secret now, and they still had to stay away from Ryoji’s brother. Though, why did Ichirou care at this point, he wasn’t sure.

“Ha, you can scream all you want.” The older man chuckled. “Help! Someone help these young kids! Help!” He was cruelly taunting them. “Now, I finally get my hands on the pretty one.” He moved forward to grab Niko, But Ichirou blocked him with his body.

“Get out of the way, you brat.” The older man growled and pulled Ichirou off of Niko. How was he so much stronger than he looked, what was this about? “Don’t look so shocked, you are still just a kid, not yet an adult or have the strength of an adult.” He easily tossed Ichirou to the side and when to grab Niko again, by the ankle. Ichirou’s eyes widen, he was going to have his way with Niko as Niko struggled against him on the floor as he was now moving on top of Niko.

“Stop it!” Ichirou shouted. “You want to fuck someone than fuck me.” Ichirou stood up, he was readying himself to kick, punch, push, or pull the older man off of Niko.

“And why would I do you, Ichirou?” The older man turned his face to Ichirou, as Niko was in tears, trying to shove the man off of him.

“If you fuck me, I won’t fight back or struggle,” Ichirou said in defeat, which made both of the two on the floor look at him with surprised expressions.

“Well, that’s even better.” The older man got off of Niko. Ichirou sigh in relief that Niko’s shorts were still up, though Niko was now moving to the corner of the room, huddling to himself. He was scared, Ichirou couldn’t blame him, he was crying so much, Ichirou remembered those feelings. He remembered his nightmares with that man on the tour bus. He swallowed hard, he was only thirteen and he was already giving up his body to save another. The first time was unwilling, this time he was willing.

The older man lifted Ichirou’s chin to face him. Of course, the older man was taller, by at least a foot, just like his son was tall like him. Though, he was a heavier set man, where Kojima was built like an athlete on the football team. Ichirou breathed out his nose before his lips were pressed against a pair of chapped ones. He didn’t kiss back, he let the man kiss him, he wasn’t going to kiss back.

The older man licked Ichirou’s lips. “You have nice soft lips, I suggest you get on your knees.” The older man let his pants down to the floor, followed but his underwear. Ichirou felt nervousness pass through him as he slowly got on his knees. Then he came face to face with the older man erect cock. It wasn’t large or huge, but it wasn’t small or thin either, maybe short and chubby? Ichirou just knew his cock was bigger than this, but Ichirou only knew that from waking up a few times with morning wood. He never touched himself in that way either, so this was going to be a whole new and frightening experience for him.

“What are you doing, kid? Just going to stare at it. Put it in your mouth and suck on it, and don’t you dare bite either.” The older man chuckled. “You must be a virgin. Oh, I’ll be in for a treat tonight.” Ichirou licked his lips and swallowed hard, he couldn’t do this, he didn’t want to do this.

“Please, I’ll let you fuck me in any way shape, or form, but please, not this,” Ichirou begged. Why was he begging now? The older man seemed to crack a smile as Ichirou begged.

“Fine, but I’m taping it.” The older man turned around and there was already a video camera set up on the high dresser pointed towards the bed. Ichirou got up off the floor and the older man removed his shirt. “Everything off. Now!”

Ichirou looked towards Niko, he was scared and the scent of fear was radiating off of him. He took in a shaky breath, Ichirou was going to be saving him from this torture, but he was going to see the whole thing. He wanted to tell Niko to look away, but he feared the older man would put his attention but on him. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it over his head to reveal his toned, muscle growing abs and chest that still was developing into a toned upper body. He undid the button on his pants and he could hear the older man humming in pleasure. He bent down, undid his shoes, and stepped out of his shoes, before letting his pants slid down his legs.

“And underwear. I won’t be able to fuck you with those on.” Ichirou heard the older man say, he closed his eyes and took off his boxer briefs. He stepped out of them as well and held his hands in front of himself, cupping his privates. “You might as well show the camera your junk because I’m going to be enjoying it myself soon enough.” Ichirou hesitated, but he did what he was told. He revealed himself for the camera that was recording this. Ichirou looked at Niko and noticed the other was looking away now, thank the stars for that. “You are indeed growing, but you still have a ways to go. Your cock may be flaccid for now, but you still have a few more years to grow. You might have an above-average cock, that pleases me. How do you feel about that?”

The older man walked up to him and lifted his chin. He wasn’t standing completely in front of him, just to the side, so the camera could see Ichirou. Ichirou didn’t speak, he looked elsewhere, he was trying to escape his own body right now. The memories being in his mind from seven years ago kept bring him back to reality, he had pushed those memories away for a reason and now they were back and they were becoming his reality again.

“Now, come here.” The back of his neck was grabbed and he was forced over to the edge of the bed, still in the camera shot. “Look towards the camera.” Ichirou turned his head towards the direction of the camera, then he felt a hand slip between his buttocks and he froze, his hands were on the bed in line with shoulders, fisting the blanket, as he felt the man’s hand rubbed against his asshole. Then he silently gasped in surprise, feeling a finger inside of him. He knew it was a finger because the man didn’t remove his hand. He tensed up for a moment.

“No tensing. You said you wouldn’t struggle.” Ichirou felt a slap to his butt cheek and he closed his eyes, trying to relax his body against the intrusion. He felt the finger moving in and out of him until a second one somehow joined with it. It was a tight feeling and Ichirou gritted his teeth, this feeling was gentler than the first time, but it wasn’t even happening yet. “Good boy. Now stay where you are.” Ichirou felt the fingers leave him fast, leaving discomfort behind before he heard a few drawers open and shut, then the man was back behind him, this time he felt something hot and moist press against him.

“Get ready, kid. You asked for it.” Then he pushed in, Ichirou felt himself being pushed into the bed. He let out a short cry sound as everything came back at once, the sharp insertion in his backside. Though the older man paused when he was fully inside, Ichirou wanted it out of him. He didn’t want this feeling inside. His body was shaking and the older man behind him was laughing. Then it started, the feeling of it going away, but then it came right back. This happened a few times before Ichirou was being slammed into rough and quickly. Ichirou shut his eyes. It wasn’t as painful as the first time, but the pain was still there, the scars were still there, even though Ichirou had healed them, they were mentally there.

Ichirou thought it was over when he fully slipped out. Ichirou was panting, trying to keep himself from making any noises. Then he was flipped around on his back so he could see the older man, the man who was his principal, and his legs were brought up on the older man’s shoulders before he felt the intrusion again and Ichirou closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth together.

“Kid, you feel so wonderful... I wish I could feel this all the time.” The older man started panting and speaking to Ichirou. “You’re so tight… And it’s like you are milking me… Milking me to cum inside of you.” Ichirou felt the rocking movement, felt his whole body shake in spasms, this wasn’t willingly either, his body was feeling pain. The pain of the man doing this to him, his thrusts became rough and brutal as he grunted. Ichirou felt the need to scream in pain, his nails dug into the blanket beside his hips, tears fell from his eyes. The tears that Ichirou never shed since the first time, were shedding this time as well and they were falling from his tightly closed eyes. Though, as bad as he was feeling, in so much pain, he didn’t let a single sound escape him.

Then the feeling, the warmth, the sting. The older man above him had come inside of Ichirou. He was pressing Ichirou’s knees closer and closer to his head, Ichirou never knew he could bend like this, but that thought was far from his mind as the older man panted in his face. “Kid, you were good… I like your ass around me.”

Ichirou felt the relief of weight when the man backed off, his limping cock slipping out of him. Ichirou curled on his side, with his back to the camera. Tears in his eyes, he let himself be used, he let it happened, he didn’t fight it, he willingly let himself be raped. “Mmm, you did good, kid. That nice virgin ass of yours was what I needed.”

Ichirou felt a smirk crawl on his lips. The joke was on him, he wasn’t a virgin. Though, as fast as the smirk appeared, it disappeared. The older man walked away, to another door and the door closed and the sound of water running was heard moments later. Though Ichirou just laid there, not moving, he couldn’t move. He was scared, in pain, and he wasn’t sure why, but he was slipping into sleep. He didn’t want to sleep, but he was tired, tired from the anger that coursed through his body, and the stress of letting his body be used. His eyes finally closed and his world became dark, the darkness he welcomed.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Aftermath of Rape

The scent of sterilized air came to his nose, Ichirou’s mind was waking up. Why did it smell like this? He opened his eyes slowly and he realized he was in a dim-lit room, with white walls, and in a bed. Looking around trying to register what was going on, Ichirou realized he was receiving a blood transfusion into his arm. He saw other medical equipment around him, but he was confused still. He looked at the edge of the bed and seen someone with brown hair sitting in a chair, sleeping with their head down.

“Where I am?” Ichirou spoke roughly, his throat hurt. The person at the end of the bed looked up and Ichirou realized it was Kojima. Why was he here? “What’s going on?” He sat up quickly in the bed and gasped out, letting out a silent scream. The memory flooded his head. He started to shake and curled up on the bed, holding his head with wide dark red eyes.

“Ichirou, shit.” Kojima noticed Ichirou was awake and he dashed out of the room and called for a nurse. A nurse came running in and flipped on the light. Ichirou didn’t care, he was scared. He remembered the older man coming out of the bathroom, seeing him still on the bed and he had his way with Ichirou again, and then a third time. Each time worse and painful than the last. He remembered the man biting into his shoulders, draining him of his blood. Ichirou remembered before the man could kill him and cumming a third time the door was kicked in, by police officers. Then, Kojima was there. Saying sorry, with tears in his eyes. He was taken out of the house and taken to the hospital. He remembered freaking out and trying to attack the nurses and doctors from touching him, then darkness.

“I’ll put him back to sleep.” The nurse said as she was going through the cupboard she unlocked to search for the proper sedative.

“No, just calm him down, the police want to talk to him still, better when his mind remembers.” Kojima stopped the nurse from putting Ichirou back to sleep. “I’ll see if I can get him calmed down before they talk to him.”

“Okay, I know what to give him then.” The nurse was busy filling a needle before she walked over to the bed Ichirou was on and put a needle in the bloodline. “It’ll take a few moments. Call me with the buzzer if he doesn’t calm down.” The nurse left the room.

Ichirou shook on the bed, holding his head and all curled up on the bed. Then as the blood and medication flowed into his veins, he felt his body shake less and less. Kojima must have noticed this. “Ichirou, can you calm yourself down?” The worried look in Kojima’s eyes made Ichirou flinched. He was hurt by this boy’s father, those same green eyes had seen him vulnerable. He hated himself. He ran a hand through his hair a few times before he felt that he was able to sit up, flinching, and hissing in pain. He laid on the bed fully stretched out, but he couldn’t make himself sit up.

“Do you want to sit up?” Kojima asked and Ichirou nodded his head, so Kojima pressed the button on the side of the bed and help Ichirou sit up. “I’m sorry. I know you may never forgive me, but I am seriously sorry for what happened. I knew that room would be the safest place for Ryoji’s brother, but I didn’t think he would come out and find you both there. I’m sorry, Ichirou.”

“What happened to calling me ‘punk’?” Ichirou turned his head towards Kojima.

“Ichirou,” Kojima looked at Ichirou seriously. “I’m not going to call you a punk, not after what happened.”

“It’d be easier if you just did, bully.” Ichirou realized his words stung Kojima when he said them. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I did it to myself.”

“No, Ichirou. You didn’t. You didn’t ask for it.” Kojima said, and Ichirou was about to open his mouth again when a knock came from the door, and they both looked at the door to see two police officers entering the room, one male and one female.

“Ichirou Matsumoto?” The male asked, and Ichirou nodded his head. “We have tried to reach out to your father, but no one can seem to get a hold of him. Do you know how to get a hold of him?” Ichirou shook his head. “Alright, well we have to ask you questions and we can’t do it without a parent or guardian present. Kojima Satohiro has offered to sign as your temporary guardian, as he has done with your medical bills. If you wish to wait until your father is found, we can wait.”

Ichirou looked over at Kojima, who he wasn’t even looking at Ichirou, he was looking at the floor. “You realize it’s his father that did it, right?” He asked the police, but they looked at each other and then back to Ichirou.

“It’s not my real father, it’s my uncle. Don’t worry, they found the evidence, they have all of the videos of me and my uncle and the video of you and him.” Kojima looked at Ichirou. “But you are the recent activity, so they need your side. This case is yours, not mine.”

What? Did Ichirou hear that right? Videos of Kojima and the man who was now known as his uncle. He wanted to ask Kojima questions now, but the police officers were there. Damn, he would have to get this over with and done with to find out more. “Fine, let him sign as my guardian.”

The male officer sat down beside Ichirou in a chair and the female officer was ready to take notes. Ichirou was looking at Kojima, seeing that he wasn’t comfortable hearing Ichirou’s story, what happened, what he did to protect a friend from being the victim. He turned the whole situation on to him, and let it happened how it played out. Ichirou went through the first time in full detail, only able to give few details of the second and third time, as his mind was fuzzy about those times. The officer had more information then they excepted, as Ichirou was willing to tell them everything and didn’t once break down crying.

After the officers left, and Kojima was silent. Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Come here.” Kojima looked at Ichirou and sighed. He moved over to the chair that the officer was just sitting in. “You better explain to me, about your uncle. What videos does he have of you and why did you keep it a secret?”

Kojima sighed and hung his head down low. “My parents died when I was two, so I moved in with my uncle and his wife. One day his wife found a collection of his photos of kids. She left him with the twin girls they had, leaving me with him because he was legally my guardian, not his wife. Then he started visiting me at night, touching me and making me do things. I was five when it all started. It wasn’t till I was removed from the elementary school to the other school, that he started to fuck me. When I turned twelve and started puberty, I started gaining muscle, and to help myself, I trained hard, he stopped touching me and coming to me, because I wasn’t the weak kid he could put under him. He likes it when you don’t fight him. That was four years ago when it stopped for me. I didn’t know of the cameras in the bedrooms, I just knew he spent his time at home in the office or school jacking off to photos of kids, I didn’t know it went any farther than that. When you told me you knew, I wanted you to keep your mouth shut about it because I didn’t want to videos of me getting out. Though, now that he has hurt you and almost hurt Niko, it’s doesn’t matter if my videos get out. Selfish as it is because there is the video he just made with you.”

“As I told the officers, I offered myself up to save Niko from going through it.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest. “What I didn’t say was my actual reason for it. I have been raped before, much worse the first time. I was only six years old at the time on the mainland. A man came on the tour bus of my father’s band. He had a gun and was waiting for my father to finish up with his show and kill him. I was on the bus and I tried to run away but he took me roughly, so rough I had internal bleeding and damage. I healed myself though, almost killing myself in the process. I had nightmares for a few years, but they eventually were no longer there, like I pushed past that horrible moment in life. Till now that is. I had flashbacks again, and I knew I was stronger to deal with it physically, that’s why I saved Niko from it. Just like that man used my body for his pleasure, instead of killing my father.” Ichirou sighed and turned to look at Kojima, who had been sitting there listening to him. “How is Niko? What happened to him?”

“Niko, he’s not talking. He refuses to talk, his mama came and picked him up. No one knows you are here, except me, Niko, Hitsu, and Lyle. After Ryoji’s brother showed up, pissed and punched out a few guys, the party died down, then I cleaned up everything and that’s when I noticed you guys hadn’t shown back up. Hitsu wanted to leave, but he couldn’t not without you and Niko, and that’s when I realized the door was locked from the inside. I panicked and called the cops. I hadn’t realized how long you guys had been in there and Niko was petrified when the officer went in and arrested him. I pushed past them with Hitsu and Lyle. Then I saw you. I felt bad for Niko, but I feel worse about you, I’ve been there, and no one knows about it, except you and the police officers.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I won’t tell if you don’t tell about my first experience.” He looked in the opposite direction, towards the window. The sun was barely coming up. “Do you have my clothes or do they have them?”

“They searched your clothes, they found the weed you had, but they didn’t question any of us about it. They found a phone in your pocket and they gave me the phone and your clothes.” Kojima got up and retrieved the bag with the clothes and he pulled out the mobile phone. Ichirou took the phone and turned it on. Multiple messages popped up, from his father asking where he was, why the police were calling him, etc.

“I’ll get your money back for covering for my medical bill.” Ichirou looked at Kojima, as he pressed the call button. One ring and the phone was picked up.

“Ichirou, where are you? You had me worried, are you in jail or something? I haven’t called Mizuki, I know he would freak out. Tell me your okay.” Kazayuki voice filled with concern for Ichirou’s well-being.

“I’m at the hospital. I was raped. I need you to come here.” Ichirou spoke in a deadpan tone.

“You were what? Ichirou… Fuck, tell me the room. I’m coming there now.”

“Uh, room… E24. Whatever that means.” Ichirou said as Kojima showed the room number on his bracelet.

“Emergency room 24. I’ll be there.” And Kazayuki hung up the phone.

Kojima stood there with his arms over his chest. “Your dad won’t pick up for the police, but will pick up for you? When did you get a phone in the first place?”

Ichirou looked at his phone and cleared all the messages. “This week. My father gave it to me to get a hold of him when I need to just talk to him. Keep him updated with my life.”

“You don’t live with your dad?” Kojima questioned.

“Not recently, no. He and his partner broke up, I’m living with his partner because of school and for my siblings. They look up to me and depend on me. I know his partner has no guardianship over me, but whatever. I rather stay for my siblings so I know they are being taken care of.”

Kojima nodded his head, he didn’t question Ichirou anymore than that. He was seeing how much Ichirou wanted to protect people, his friends, and his family. “Do you want anything to drink?” Ichirou shook his head.

“What I want is blood and they won’t give you blood without putting it in your skin with a needle,” Ichirou smirked. “Which reminds me, I should probably heal myself.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Kojima shook his head. “As much pain as you are in, they are going to evaluate you. There is no permanent damage, but because your case is an ongoing investigation. You need to be in pain, sorry.”

“When can I go home?” Ichirou asked.

“When the police and doctors allow me to sign you out. They won’t let me just sign you out. You are a victim, both physical and mental, they need to keep you here.” Kojima sighed. “I can sign everything over to your father, but that doesn’t help the situation either.”

Ichirou nodded his head, he hated this. He hated being here. “I hate this.” He said it out loud. “I’m supposed to be back at home in the morning, but I highly doubt I’ll make it home by then.”

“Well, try to look at the bright side, free blood and you got me to keep you company.” Kojima gave Ichirou a slight smile.

“What? My own enemy to keep me company.” Ichirou smirked. “You are an asshole, you know that?”

“I’m an asshole, but after what happened, I will forgive you for beating the shit out of me that day in the park. I never knew you were such a spitfire bastard.” Kojima laughed lightly. “Then, last night you proved once again how tough you are when you are protecting someone. I never knew you could be so dangerous. We thought you killed Ryoji, but you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I don’t know where my strength comes from, but it’s growing on me.” Ichirou chuckled, trying to flex his arm muscle.

“You get your strength from your father. You just need to work on it.” Kazayuki was standing in the doorway of the room, with a leather jacket and helmet. He walked over to Ichirou and hugged him and running his hand through Ichirou’s hair. “How are you feeling since you won’t tell me shit on the phone when I ask.”

“Well, I was raped, so I’m in pain. I can’t heal myself because it’s a police case and I can’t get released either. So, I’m kind of stuck here. Oh, by the way, you owe Kojima for the hospital bills.” Ichirou pointed to Kojima, who gave a nervous smile at Kazayuki

“Kojima? Kojima.” Kazayuki was eyeing Kojima up and down. Ichirou could see the reels in his father’s face as the name came to him. “You’re the kid Ichirou went to beat the shit out of when he started school, right?”

Kojima took a step back. “Yeah, I’m that kid.” He was looking at Ichirou, then back at Kazayuki. Ichirou was wondering why Kojima was nervous about seeing his father.

“Well, someone better explain to me what all happened.” Kazayuki looked at Ichirou, and Ichirou sighed. He began to tell his father everything that happened from the beginning, about how Mizuki took the kids to Yomi’s so he could throw a little party, how Ichirou tried to get a hold of Kazayuki, what happened at Kojima’s place, even told his father about the joints he had that his father had left behind, even how Ichirou won against Dameian in a beer-chugging contest, the fight between Ryoji and Ichirou as Ichirou was protecting Niko, and the whole situation that happened with Kojima’s uncle and how Ichirou only did it to protect Niko.

After Ichirou told everything, they sat in silence for a moment. Kazayuki shook his head before he said anything. “I’ll pay you the money back, Kojima. Just tell me what relations do you have with Ichirou? Are you two friends now or something?”

Kojima shrugged his shoulders. “We are acquainted acquaintances, I guess you could say.” Kazayuki turned away from him and looked at Ichirou.

“We aren’t friends if that’s what you are getting at. I still think he is a bully and I would gladly take him on again, but we made peace and that’s where it stands. Right, Kojima?” Ichirou looked at Kojima and Kojima nodded his head. Kazayuki smirked, he was pleased with their answers.

“I won’t care if you both are friends. Childhood scuffles happen all the time, when you get older, you find yourself forgiving one another and you can become friends with them. I know Niko and Kojima are friends now, even after all the trouble Kojima created in elementary school for him.” Kazayuki nodded his head at his own words. “But, it seems I’m going to have to talk to Mizuki and get this sorted out. He’s going to be pissed at you, but I’ll deal with it.”

“Father, don’t argue with him. Not if Eliza and Yuriel are there. I’m not there to comfort them.” Ichirou warned his father, and Kazayuki reached out and ruffled Ichirou’s hair.

“That’s why I am going now. If Mizuki had a party last night, the kids won’t be there till later.” Kazayuki gave Ichirou a reassuring smile. “Seems everything is being handled by the police and you have a buddy here to keep you company. You don’t need your father babying you, so I’ll leave you boys, for now. Though, text me or call me if you need something Ichirou.”

Ichirou nodded his head as his father left and said their goodbyes. Resting against the bed, Ichirou looked towards the window again. He felt lost, what could he have done differently. Kojima moved over to the chairs at the end of the hospital bed. They were both quiet even as a nurse came to check in on Ichirou and his vitals.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Prescription Drug Abuse

Four days later…

Ichirou walked with a limp from the bathroom back over to the bed, holding the back of his hospital gown closed. He was able to walk after the doctor say he was able to. Though, walking was painful at first. He was sure there was some sort of damage in him, but Kojima warned him to just let his body heal on its own. Ichirou never remembered feeling in this much pain from the first time, then again he healed himself and was bedridden for a few days.

“Are you doing any better with the bathroom?” Kojima was sitting on one of the chairs, reading a magazine. Ichirou rolled his eyes and made it back to the bed and helped himself on the bed, realizing he was panting hard just from getting on the bed. He had told Kojima before to let him do things himself, or he won’t get better. Though he could swear the doctors and nurses were extending his pain, he should have gotten used to the pain by now, and move with the pain, instead of being in pain to move.

“Why do you want to know? It’s my business.” Ichirou finally said, when he calmed himself down, running a hand through his hair.

“Just have to keep the nurses up to date if there are any complications. You don’t give them much information, so they keep asking me. If you just tell me or you tell them, this would be a lot easier on you.” Kojima still wasn’t looking up at Ichirou as he flipped another page.

“What would be easier on me is if I can get out of here. Then I can repair the issues myself and go back to school. Damn, even I’m missing the idea of going to school.” Ichirou chuckled to himself.

Kojima put the magazine down. “They actually closed the school this week, because the principal is on trial. They need to go through all the records now to see if there is anything else they charge him with. You are a student in his school, so it’s necessary now.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. Even school was closed down, so he couldn’t even go there. He hugged himself as he curled up on his side. “You said they published the paper about the incident, didn’t they?”

“Yes, it’s front-page news. I’ve read through it and still, they haven’t mentioned you by name. The court is pending for some time this week. There aren’t many court cases on the island so of course, your case is being pushed forward because it’s of great importance.” Kojima brought the newspaper to Ichirou and showed him the front page. Ichirou took one glance, seeing the older man’s grin on the picture and he pushed it away. He didn’t want to see it.

A knock came from the door and Ichirou pushed himself up a bit too quickly and he bit his lip from the pain coursing through his body. “Ichirou Matsumoto.” The male police officer came in the same one that Ichirou remembered talking to before. “Sorry for dropping in, but I have some news the two of you need to know.” Ichirou looked at Kojima and Kojima nodded his head. “It seems they want to push your case soon. They have to know which dates would be best. They never dealt with a child victim before, so it’s clear they want to know which would be best for you and your well-being.”

“The sooner the better.” Ichirou frowned. “I want to get out of here.” The police officer pulled a notepad out and looked at his notes.

“We can have it scheduled for this evening. Though you have to put into consideration the jury won’t all be Vampires, nor is the judge. They don’t have the same stamina that Vampires have to stay awake. There may be more recesses, which would carry on the whole trial till the next morning. This could mean the defense could also turn everything around and sentence Mr. Moshiia to a shorter prison sentence.”

Ichirou looked at the police officer, his dark red eyes were hard and cold. “Will he get sent to prison, no matter what?”

The police officer nodded his head. “From the physical evidence we have collected from Mr. Moshiia’s house and the pictures and videos we have, it’s clear he could get five years in prison on the mainland. Though, the max sentence would be twenty-five years, due to how much we have collected on him.”

“Then make it this evening. As long as he is getting prison time, I don’t care how long he is put away for.” Ichirou's words shocked the police officer. “Trust me, I’ll just be glad when he is put away for what he has done and is punished for it.”

“Then, it seems we have somethings to get in order. Are you going to be able to handle him and take him to the courthouse? You both will be needed there and on the stand.” The police officer told Kojima.

“Yeah, I can deal with him. We’ll be there.” Kojima nodded his head.

The police officer put his notepad away. “Then I will call you and give you directions and time. Take care both of you.” The police officer tilted his hat as he left the room.

“You know, this is not how they do things on the mainland. I’m kind of shocked by it.” Ichirou commented. “They must have everything they need to push it through so soon. Usually, the court is date is decided by the courthouse and the lawyers, to make sure everyone has their information and it has been processed.” Ichirou realized he was rambling on, as Kojima was looking at him like he had two heads. “What? Oh, shit.”

“You are a nerd.” Kojima shook his head as a grin appeared on his face. “I’ll get a nurse and then we will get you dressed.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He was going to be able to leave the hospital now. He was kind of glad, it had been a lonely four days with only Kojima to talk to, and his father visiting him in the evenings so Kojima could go home to change, shower, eat something else besides hospital food. That reminded him, he grabbed his mobile phone from the side table and turned it on. He wanted to text his father that they would be going to the courthouse tonight.

Then the nurse and Kojima returned to the room and Ichirou was checked out by the nurse before the nurse allowed Kojima to help Ichirou dress in his clothes from that night. “I’m taking you somewhere that’s not home or my place, but we can get you washed up and changed into clearer clothes,” Kojima told Ichirou, to which Ichirou didn’t care. Getting out of the hospital was his main objective, everything else could wait.

* * *

When they pulled up to the four-plex building in Kojima’s small red truck, Ichirou realized where they were. Why had they come to Niko’s place? He looked at Kojima with a questioning expression. Kojima gave a small smile and got out of his truck, Ichirou sighed, doing the same. Ichirou limped his way up to the front entrance as Kojima was already there and opened the door for Ichirou. Then the steps down made Ichirou cringe in pain, but he didn’t ask Kojima for help as the other knocked on the door to the apartment that Ichirou remembered was the place Niko rented with four other people.

“Oh, hey Kojima.” Lyle’s voice came from the door. “Guys, Kojima is here, and Mini Ka-yu!” He called out to the others in the apartment. Kojima entered through the door that was opened for him, but Ichirou slowly made his way inside. Painfully slow.

Ichirou was breathing slightly heavier, but he was standing on the inside of the apartment and he looked around. Lyle smiled at him, Hitsu was there as well sitting on the couch, he gave Ichirou a sad smile, and Ichirou could hear a voice that he recognized from the kitchen.

“Sorry, I figured you’d guys would help me with him.” Kojima patted Ichirou’s shoulder, making Ichirou flinch. “Shit, sorry.” Ichirou shook his head and smirked at Kojima. “The trial will be this evening, I have to wait for a call, but Ichirou needs to get cleaned up and we need to find him something to wear to the courthouse.”

“I got you covered in the clothes department.” Lyle chuckled. “Ichirou is probably the same size as me. I got some smaller shirts he could wear.” He looked at Ichirou. “If that’s alright with you.”

“Yeah, I don’t have anything nice to wear to a courthouse, what you see is what I have at home to wear,” Ichirou smirked. “Though, before I move anymore, I need a pain reliever.” He looked at Kojima. “They wouldn’t give me any at the hospital, but I would like to shower and dress, so it can’t hurt to have some relief.”

Kojima shrugged his shoulders and looked at Hitsu, who nodded his head and got up and disappeared down the hallway. Ichirou took a few steps forward and reached out with his hands on the couch. He wanted to relax. He glanced towards the kitchen as Lyle and Kojima talked to themselves. In the kitchen area, Ichirou saw Niko sitting on a chair, as Lexi was making something on the stove. Niko looked rough, but Lexi was smiling and talking to Niko, as Niko shook his head or nodded.

Ichirou held his breath as he limped his way slowly towards the kitchen and stopped to lean on the table with his hands. “Niko.” He said, and Lexi stopped her conversation and smiled at Ichirou. Niko turned his head to look at Ichirou, bags under his eyes, not even a little makeup on his face, hair so messed up and knotted. Niko gave Ichirou a sad look, as he was about to cry, but before Ichirou could say another word, Niko knocked over the chair and tackled Ichirou in a hug. The tackle managed to knock Ichirou in the wall, but the pain clear on his face from the impact, he held Niko back.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the moment between Ichirou and Niko, Ichirou pushed Niko’s face away gently to look at the other’s green eyes red from crying and full of tears. “It’s okay. I’m here, I’m alright.” He wasn’t sure what Niko wanted to hear from him.

“Ichirou, I’m sorry.” Niko duck his head down into Ichirou’s chest and shook his head. “I was weak, I couldn’t save you. I was so scared.” Niko looked up at Ichirou again. “Please forgive me, please.”

Ichirou gave Niko a soft smirk. “Niko, you did nothing wrong. There is nothing to forgive.” Ichirou petted Niko’s hair. “Trust me when I say, what happened was because I was protecting you from going through it.” He cupped Niko’s face with his hands and gave him a soft kiss and then kissed his closed eyes. Ichirou let his body control his actions again, he didn’t fight against it.

“That doesn’t make up for it. You’re thirteen, I’m sixteen. I should be protecting you from that kind of thing. What he did to you, and how many times he took you and made you cry like that. I have never seen you cry once, but he was hurting you so bad, he had you in tears. I was frozen, I couldn’t move. I should have protected you.” Niko was crying hard again and holding Ichirou close. His body was shaking against Ichirou. Ichirou looked down at him sadly, but he had to be strong, he just knew he had to be strong for Niko.

“Listen Niko. I was protecting you.” Ichirou growled deep in his chest, but it wasn’t threatening. “I knew what he was going to do, I put myself in that position knowing what was going to happen. I did it to protect you from the pain and hurt. Don’t feel sorry for me because you were frozen in fear. I let it happened to protect you from it. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I let him do that to you, Niko.” He held on tight to Niko, as the other cried more. He didn’t care how much pain he was in at the moment, Niko needed to be held by him.

A few moments passed by, and Ichirou realized Niko had passed out against him from the steady breathing. Ichirou looked at Kojima. “Help me. He’s out.” He was asked him for help as Ichirou was against the wall and he didn’t have the strength to pick Niko up off of him. Kojima walked over and picked Niko up with ease and carried him to his bedroom, as Lexi followed, tears in her eyes from seeing the scene between Ichirou and Niko.

Hitsu walked over to Ichirou and helped him stand up. “I have some pills called, oxy-something. I just know them as oxy cotton.”

“Oxycodone,” Ichirou said exactly what the other didn’t say. He held out his hand. “Give me one, it’ll help with the pain.” Hitsu opened the pill bottle and put one in Ichirou’s hand and Ichirou swallowed the pill without taking anything.

Lyle walked over to Ichirou. “Guessing you need a shower, so I’ll help set you up with that.” He smiled at Ichirou, more friendly then sad. Ichirou let Lyle show him the direction of the bathroom, getting him a towel, and even starting the shower water for Ichirou. “There’s soaps and shampoos on the ledge. Usually, we don’t touch each other’s stuff, but it’s you. So use whatever.”

“You mean because I’m the victim. Just tell me which ones you use and I’ll use those.” Ichirou smirked at Lyle, as Lyle pointed out which ones were his before he shut the door and left Ichirou alone. Ichirou undressed, it was painful to move his body, but the effects of the oxycodone had helped him. His body was feeling tingly instead of stiff. Ichirou smirked to himself, he was liking this feeling, the high the drug had given him.

He looked at himself in a full-length mirror and he realized his whole backside had blood smears on it as if someone tried to clean off the blood and semen from him. He didn’t know what happened when he got to the hospital, but the mess of it was so faint, but it was noticeable on Ichirou’s pale skin. He turned to step into the shower and the warm hitting his body felt like a tickle on his body. He was enjoying the feeling, enjoying the high, not feeling any pain. He doesn’t know how long he was standing in the water like this, till a knock come from the bathroom door.

“You almost done? I got the time.” Kojima’s voice was heard from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, hold on,” Ichirou called back out. He looked down at the shower gel he could wash his body with and the shampoo he could wash his hair with. Starting with the shampoo, Ichirou quickly scrubbed it in his hair and let the suds run down his body before he went on about putting shower gel on himself and scrubbing his body, washing his backside mostly and his crotch area. He didn’t feel dirty, but he had a feeling he needed to clean up good.

After rinsing off, Ichirou shut off the water and grabbed the towel, and started drying off. Once he was fully dried, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom. He ran a hand through his black naturally spiked hair and he was about to walk into the living room where he saw Kojima and Hitsu sitting on the couch.

“Hey, guys.” Lyle’s voice came from behind the wall beside Ichirou and the towel that was wrapped around Ichirou’s waist was snatched away. Now, Ichirou was standing there in the buff, hand through his hair, glaring at Lyle.

“Seriously, Lyle. You’re so childish.” Hitsu groaned as he took the towel from Lyle and handed it to Ichirou. “There are clothes on the bed for you to put on. Boxers are a new pair so you can put them on.” He smiled at Ichirou and pointed to the bedroom.

Ichirou nodded his head and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door. There were two beds in the room, but the one bed where the clothes were on was nicely made, the other bed was a disaster with blankets. He could guess which bed belonged to who. He smirked and got dressed up. Boxers first, then the blue button-up shirt, he buttoned up himself. He put on the black slacks and tucked in the shirt. Lucky there was a belt for Ichirou to put on, as his waistline was smaller but not by much. The shirt fit him just fine, but then there was the tie. He put it around his neck, and sat on the bed, it made his body flinch, the pain was slowly coming back. He sighed and put on the socks there for him. He walked out of the bedroom, seeing Niko and Lexi both walking into the bathroom. Sister was taking care of her brother.

“Does this even suit me?” Ichirou said, as he turned into the living room, the three guys looked over at Ichirou. Hitsu reached over the back of the couch and helped Ichirou with the tie.

“You look like you are ready for game day.” Lyle laughed. Kojima jabbed him in the gut.

“That’s how we dress up at school every game day, but it’s all we got for you to wear to the courthouse,” Hitsu told Ichirou, to explain what Lyle was talking about. “It’s formal wear, so you won’t look like a complete slob wearing jeans and a t-shirt.” Hitsu chuckled and Ichirou chuckled along with him.

Once the tie was properly fitted, Kojima turned to Ichirou. “How are you feeling?” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “Well, we have to be at the courthouse before 5 pm. They have everything situated, they just need all of us to show up.”

That when Ichirou realized something. “Wait, you said lawyers before. So who do we have as a lawyer? I haven’t even met them.”

“Ichirou, this is your case, it’s not we. I’m only a witness and Niko is a witness. This is your case against him. And your dad had that figured out. I was wondering why a lawyer didn’t come to meet you, but your dad said there was no need for you to meet the lawyer.” Kojima shrugged his shoulders.

Now Ichirou wanted to know what his father was thinking. He was going in there blind and not knowing who his lawyer was or even what to expect from the court trial. Lyle came and put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders. “Leon says I should give you a hug from him. He’s been worried about you since that night, but he has no clue what is going on.” Ichirou nodded his head and Lyle backed off. It was clear that Lyle and Leon would probably get along on the football team, both were human and seemed to have the same joking personality, but Lyle might give Dameian a run for his money. He smirked, he had Leon and Dameian on his side as friends, but even these three guys were started to feel like friends to him.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I seriously do not know how trials are done, but with some research, I tried.
> 
> Trial 1/4
> 
> Warnings: Explicit Evidence

Pulling up to the courthouse, Ichirou was getting nervous, though he wasn’t showing any signs of it. They had pulled up to the backside of the courthouse because Ichirou was a minor in this case they allowed Kojima to take them through the private parking lot and let Ichirou out at the back door. Niko had come along with them as well.

Ichirou got out of the truck wearing the clothes he borrowed from Lyle and Niko had gotten out as well, he was wearing a white button-up shirt, untucked from his pants and his pants were just black slacks. He had a black cap on his head, tilted to the side. Ichirou never figured Niko would own anything like that, but the other did.

They walked in through the back door of the courthouse and were greeted by Kazayuki standing there, talking to a police officer. He saw them come in and waved at them but kept talking to the officer. He wasn’t dressed up at all. He was wearing his usual flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off and black jeans. Ichirou smirked, his father didn’t care what he was wearing as long as he was wearing clean clothes. Kazayuki saw them and waved, but continued his conversation with the officer.

Niko sigh and grabbed a hold of Ichirou’s hand, making him look at Niko. “What is it?” Ichirou asked, seeing the fright in Niko’s eyes.

“I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to see him again.” Niko closed his eyes and Ichirou hugged him around the shoulders. Niko wasn’t wearing any platform shoes so he was actually shorter than Ichirou slightly, instead of the other way around.

“It’ll be fine. You just have to answer questions the lawyers ask you.” Ichirou lifted Niko’s chin, his thumb ran over Niko’s lower lip, he felt the tug to kiss him, but he stopped himself from letting his body take control of his actions. They were in a courthouse after all.

Kojima came walking in and smiled at them, as he joined them. Though the door beside Kazayuki opened, that caught their attention, Kazayuki waved the officer off. “Okay, kids inside. We have to go through some stuff with you guys before the trial.” Ichirou raised his brow at his father as they walked into the room, there was a table with chairs around it, but sitting at the far end of the table was the last person Ichirou expected. Junji. He had papers in front of him.

“Hey, Ichirou.” Junji looked up and waved at Ichirou, with a pair of glasses on his face. He never knew the piano player in his father’s band to wear glasses, much less be a lawyer.

“What are you doing?” Ichirou asked as he limped over to Junji and went to sit on the chair beside him, wincing in pain slightly. “You are a lawyer?”

“Yes, I am a lawyer.” Junji chuckled. “I studied law and was a lawyer before I joined the band with your father. I stopped practicing, but after we moved here, it became a hobby for me to renew my law license and practice again. I don’t do any big cases like this, but I know what I am doing. I’ve got the evidence I need to send him to prison on the mainland for at least five to seven years, with both of your testimony I can get twenty-five years on his sentence, as long as Kojima is willing to testify and bring his truth to the surface.” He looked at Kojima with an appointed look.

Kojima sighed. “This is Ichirou’s case, not mine.” He told Junji, as his hands balled into fists on the table. “I don’t want it to be known, my past.”

“Kid, we all have a past that we have to revisit from time to time.” Kazayuki was leaning of the table with a hand on Kojima’s shoulder. “You testify, your uncle goes away, you’re a free man to do whatever you like. No more secrets to hide and no more being afraid of your past.” Kojima looked at Kazayuki, who was smirking at him widely. “I’ve already worked it out and the house is yours, no matter what happens. You and your friends can live in it and do whatever you like.”

This came as a shock to both Niko and Ichirou, just what was his father talking about? What was his father doing for Kojima? Why was Ichirou out of the loop? “Ichirou, I got your dad here to work out a deal, instead of paying me back the money for the medical bills, I got him to look into getting the lease on the house signed over to me. That means the house is mind once my uncle is taking to prison. I was going to wait before telling anyone, but I was going to suggest that Niko and the other guys move in with me and we all chip in on bills, which would be a lot less than renting the place you guys live in right now.”

“W-who gets your uncle’s room?” Niko asked, it was where the nightmare began and Niko wasn’t sure he wanted to live in that house.

“Well, the four bedrooms will be cleaned and stripped of everything, even the hidden cameras and I was thinking you guys could move into any of those rooms. I’ll still be in my room. My uncle’s room with be cleaned and stripped and I just figured to make it a hangout room. I have all those video games and such downstairs. I would bring them up into that room. That’s after I redecorated it and paint it and such.”

“I-I don’t know… Sounds like a great idea… but…” Niko sniffled. Kazayuki placed a hand on his shoulders and he turned towards Kazayuki, crying softly on Kazayuki’s shoulder.

“It’s not something that will happen right away, Niko. I have to deal with my problems and clean up the house.” Kojima explained. “But when it’s ready and cleaned, I’m hoping that you guys will move in with me.”

“Sorry to bring everyone back to reality here, but we still need to have our shit together before we go into the courtroom.” Junji cleared his throat and looked hard at Kojima. “Are you going to testify on your part as well, not just a witness?” Kojima sighed, his face in hands, he finally gave a nod. “Good, then I’ll help you with the renovations.”

Ichirou’s brows went awkward, one up in surprise and the other down in frustration. He was sitting there, completely out of the loop about everything. “Wait. Now you are helping him with renovations? What kind of sly lawyer are you, Junji?”

“I’m not being sly, I’m helping him out. You see, Ichirou, the other lawyer doesn’t know about Kojima’s story. So, bring that into the light will push our case more on our side. The judge knows about it already. Besides, the kid’s going to need help redoing the whole inside of that house, and I highly doubt he even knows where to start.” Junji smirked.

“Fine, so what else do we need to know, and if there are any more surprises just spill them now or I’m going to die of a heart attack from all this shock.” Ichirou glared at Junji and his father, as the two laughed it off before Junji started with what they were going to do in the courtroom.

* * *

They were seated in the courtroom, waiting. Ichirou was sitting up at the table with Junji on one side of him and Kojima sitting on the other side of him. Kazayuki and Niko were behind them. Niko had calmed down from crying, but that didn’t hide the redness in his eyes. Ichirou was nervous, and now it was noticeable as he bounced his knee up and down. Junji reached over and ran his hand through Ichirou’s hair, which seemed to calm him. Kojima took notice of what it did to Ichirou.

Then the other side walked in two men, who were Angels, dressed in suits with their wings out on display, all white and Kojima’s uncle being escorted by an officer, wearing an orange jumpsuit, and he was looking towards Ichirou and Kojima grinning widely. Like he was enjoying the fact he was being on trial. Junji leaned closed to Ichirou. “I’ll try my best, but those two are the top lawyers in the city. I just hope they don’t make this into a big mess.” Junji’s voice made Ichirou realized that Kojima’s uncle was hoping to get off on no charges.

A jury was brought in, ten different people, some human, some Vampires, and only one Angel. That was clear as the Angel had his wings out on displayed. Ichirou never saw Angels with their wings out but guessed being in court, it was something that was expected of them. Ichirou swallowed hard, this was getting to be too much for him and it hadn’t even started. Why was he like this, feeling sit to his stomach?

“All rise for the honorable judge, Tsumaki Kagoshima.” Everyone had to stand up, and Kojima lends a hand in helping Ichirou stand. The oxycodone Ichirou had taken earlier had finally worn off and the pain was back, so it was hard for Ichirou to move as his movements became stiff. He leans with his hands on the table, panting, but trying to remain standing up as straight as he could.

In walked a woman, a human woman, with long black hair and shimmering blue eyes, she wore a black gown and walked up behind the bench before taking her seat. Everyone had begun to take their seats as well after she did and Ichirou winced as Kojima helped him sit back down. Ichirou had a cushion on his seat, but that still didn’t help him. Though, sitting down he was at ease from the pain.

“This is the case between Mr. Matsumoto and Mr. Satohiro versus Mr. Moshiia. It should be known by the court this is a child endangerment case and we will proceed with the plaintiff’s opening statement.” The judge spoke as she looked towards Junji.

Standing up Junji nodded his head to the judge and walked over to the jury. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I, Junji, will be representing Ichirou Matsumoto and Kojima Satohiro’s case against Mr. Moshiia.” He gestured to the man sitting there in the orange jumpsuit. “This is a case of child endangerment, child sexual abuse, and even child pornography. I will be showcasing the evidence we have collected from the home of Mr. Moshiia and even his place of work, which is an elementary school. On top of that, my clients will be taking to the stand to retell their stories between them and Mr. Moshiia, which may be graphic to hear and even to see as we have videos that Mr. Moshiia had taken while sexually assaulting these children. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will take into consideration the impact that Mr. Moshiia has caused Mr. Matsumoto and Mr. Satohiro, from his actions alone. At the conclusion of this trial, I hope that in the interest of justice you will find that Mr. Moshiia is responsible for causing Mr. Matsumoto and Mr. Satohiro injuries, both physical and mental, and find Mr. Moshiia guilty of his actions. Thank you very much.”

Junji walked back over to the table and took a seat beside Ichirou. This was a side of Junji that Ichirou never saw before, all serious and talk. He knew the guy to be a cocaine smoker but never expected this to happen. Never in a million years.

“The defense.” The judge pointed to the Angel that sat the closes to Junji, though they were at different tables.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Gable, and I together with my colleague, represent the defendant Mr. Moshiia.” The tall Angel pointed out Mr. Moshiia and the other Angel sitting at the table beside Mr. Mosiiha. “The defendant stands here today wrongly accused of the crime of child endangerment, as well as sexual assault on a minor, unwillingly, and child pornography, a very serious offense. At the end of this trial, we are going to ask you to render a verdict of not guilty, the only appropriate verdict in this case. Members of the jury, this case is of children taking advantage of Mr. Moshiia for their vindicated motives. The plaintiff explained in his opening statement that our client has caused these children physical and mental injuries, but you shall witness for yourselves the actions these children have taken to prove that our client is guilty. At the conclusion of this trial, the defense will ask that you find that our client is not guilty. The plaintiff will not meet their burden of proof. A verdict of guilty would be a travesty. Thank you.”

The tall Angel turned around with his back to the jury and grinned towards Junji, Ichirou, and Kojima. Ichirou felt his world spinning, why? The jury couldn’t really buy into that statement, could they? He was starting to worry, his hands were shaking. This was a horror show Ichirou was not ready for. He wanted justice now, he wanted them to find him guilty of everything and sentence him to the highest charge they could give him.

Junji stood up. “I would like to call Kojima Satohiro to the stand.” Kojima took a deep breath before he stood up and walked over to the bench where he would be put on the stand. Ichirou was nervous for him, as he sat there by himself at the table, completely exposed. He didn’t look anywhere but at the table, he didn’t even clue into what was going on, before he ran his hand through his hair to calm himself down. He needed to calm down to focus.

“Now, Mr. Satohiro, how are you related to Mr. Moshiia?” Junji asked Kojima.

“He is my uncle, on my mother’s side.”

“Would you like to explain to the jury how you came to live with Mr. Moshiia, please?”

“It was after an accident. An accident that left both my parents dead. I was only three at the time when I moved in with my only living relative, my uncle, Mr. Moshiia.”

“And could you explain the beginning of your living situation with Mr. Moshiia?” What was Junji doing? Ichirou couldn’t see how this had anything to do with the trial, he knew that Kojima’s life was different before the molestation occurred.

“I had moved in with Mr. Moshiia, who at the time was living with his wife and twin daughters. Mr. Moshiia had full legal rights to me, his wife did not have any legal rights to me. It was the usual family setting of a father figure, mother figure, and even sibling figures. I never felt that I didn’t belong to the family, Mr. Moshiia’s wife gave me love that any mother would have for their own child and the twins accepted me as their younger brother.”

“And what was your relationship like with Mr. Moshiia?”

“He treated me… He treated me like a son, I had have to guess.”

The judge cleared her throat. “Please do not guess in my court, answer the question without guessing.”

Kojima looked at the judge and nodded his head. “Mr. Moshiia would give me hugs when he gave the twins hugs and he would play with us, such as throwing the ball around, pushing us on the swing set, or running through the sprinkler with us.”

“Mr. Satohiro, does Mr. Moshiia’s wife still live with you?”

Kojima shook his head. “No, sir.”

“And why is that?”

Kojima let out a heavy breath. “Mr. Moshiia’s wife had found photos of children that he had collected-”

“Objection!” The tall Angel stood up. “How would he know that Mr. Moshiia had collected these photos his wife claimed to have found?”

“Sustained.” The judge spoke. “Mr. Satohiro, I would suggest you clear up your story before pointing fingers.”

Kojima was quiet for a moment, he leaned his elbows on his knees and held his hands in front of his face, trying to come up with the best response. “Mr. Moshiia’s wife had claimed to have found pictures-”

“Objection!” The Angel stood again. “Mr. Moshiia’s wife is not here to defend herself to Mr. Satohiro’s statement so it should be sustained from the court.”

“Sustained.” The judge looked down at Kojima from the bench. “Mr. Satohiro, please stop claiming to know things about others, present or not.”

Kojima was looking stressed out there. Ichirou could see the sweat on his forehead starting. It was rare for a Vampire to sweat, but under enough pressure or too hot of temperatures, it became possible. Ichirou felt sorry for Kojima, this was just the start of the trial and already the defense was making it hard for them to continue with Kojima’s answers.

“Mr. Moshiia and his wife fought in front of us kids one day, fighting about pictures of children in Mr. Moshiia’s underwear drawer. The fight had ended with Mr. Moshiia’s wife packing up her belongings and the twins’ belonging up and leaving the house. I was five years old at the time of their argument.” Kojima seemed to have finally answered the question Juniji asked without any objections for the defense.

“After Mr. Moshiia’s wife left with the twins, how long did it take for molestation to begin?”

“It was that night. The night Mr. Moshiia’s wife left him, he came into my bedroom and he started touching me above my clothes, whispering in my ear that if I told anyone about this he would make my life a living hell.”

“How many times a week would Mr. Moshiia come into your room and touch you above your clothes?” Junji gave Kojima an appointed looked.

“Mr. Moshiia would come into my bedroom every second night and touch me. He would lay in bed with me and rub himself against me as he touched me above my clothes.”

“May I ask how long did this go on for?”

Kojima sat there, thinking hard about this question. Ichirou knew the answer, but was it the right answer, or was Junji trying to find something out? “The touching had stopped when I was in the middle of my fifth-grade year, then it became worse.”

“Will you explain to the jury just how worse it became for you, a ten-year-old boy at the time?”

“Mr. Moshiia dragged me out of bed the night I had changed schools, stood me in the middle of his room and he instructed me to undress for him, in front of the camera.” Kojima closed his eyes tightly, as Junji held a remote in his hand. A TV set was pushed out from behind the bench in the courtroom already set up for Junji. He pressed play on the remote and the video appeared on the screen.

“Now, you be a good boy and do as your uncle tells you to do.” Mr. Moshiia’s voice was heard behind the camera. A boy of ten years old, the same boy Ichirou remembered beating up in the park only days before this video. He didn’t want to watch, but he wanted to know just what was this man going to do to him. “Take off your shirt.” The boy did so and let his shirt fall to the floor. Ichirou could see the two bruises on the boy’s lower rib cage. He knew he punched Kojima in the rib cage a couple of times and felt the snapping of the bones under his fist at the time, he just didn’t remember where exactly. “Now, see what happens when you fight like an adult. You get hurt like an adult.” Mr. Moshiia’s voice crackled with laughter. “Now, remove your pants.” The little boy did just that, undoing his pants and letting them fall to the ground. There was a big bruise on the boy’s right knee, Ichirou was the cause of that too. He remembered stomping Kojima’s knee so hard with his foot against the cement walkway, he could remember the scream of terror and pain Kojima made. “Hmm, look at you. You’re weak and pathetic.” The camera was picked up and moved closer to the boy in the video. “Now, get on your knees.” The boy tried on the video to get down on his knees, but he cried out. “I can’t, uncle. It hurts so bad.” “Get down on your knees, boy.” And the man behind the camera forced the boy on his knees by pushing down on his shoulder, the boy cried out in pain. The man behind the camera was shifting around until the movement stopped. “Now, take my dick and suck on it like one of your lollipops.” The boy looked up at the camera with tears in his eyes, the fear written on his face. “Do it!” The boy jumped in fright and grabbed what was clearly in front of him, but not on the video, and started sucking, Junji paused the video and the screen went blank.

Kojima was shaking, holding his hands in front of him, his elbows on his knees. He was shaking, his head hung low, he had to relive that moment and everyone in the room got to watch it.

“There you have it, members of the jury. The first proof of evidence of Mr. Moshiia filming the sexual acts on a child, a minor.” Junji turned to the jury.

“Objection.” The tall Angel stood again and Ichirou had to roll his eyes. “As you could see from the video, no one could tell who was behind the camera. It could have been someone who made the boy call him uncle.”

The judge thought for a moment. “Sustained. It is not clear evidence that it was Mr. Moshiia behind the camera. Please present evidence of the defendant in front of the camera. The jury will be asked to ignore the video they just witnessed.”

Kojima’s eyes grew wide. He looked at Junji, then at the Angel lawyer who called an objection. This couldn’t be happening, it was Kojima’s uncle’s voice in the video, but all because he wasn’t in the frame, it wasn’t allowed. Ichirou gritted his teeth, he realized this was going to be harder than Junji predicted.

Junji looked at Kojima, and Kojima sighed in defeat and nodded his head. Was that all the evidence Junji was going to show of Kojima and his uncle? For Kojima’s sake that was going to be all Junji was going to show till the objection.

“Mr. Satohiro, may I ask how many years were you filmed?”

“Two years.”

“During those two years, what exactly did you do in those videos?”

“I…” Kojima was starting to choke up, bad enough he had to relive one experience, now he had to relive more. “I was forced to give blow jobs, hands jobs until I had reached puberty. Then I was forced on the bed and taken.”

“Taken how exactly, Mr. Satohiro?” Junji was pushing Kojima to answer the question.

“I was penetrated, tied up against my will, and as I was being penetrated.” Kojima didn’t even look up anymore, his head hung low, he covered his face with his hands.

“I have that exact video of a twelve-year-old Mr. Satohiro being penetrated by the defendant, Mr. Moshiia.” Junji turned to the TV, clicked a few numbers over, till he hit play on a video.

The man on the screen was Mr. Moshiia, finishing tying a twelve-year-old Kojima’s hands up. “There, now you won’t be able to fight back.” The man was on top of a naked boy, and he was naked as well. He moved from on top of the boy’s chest and picked up the boy’s legs one in each hand. He spread them apart and lifted the boy’s back end up off the bed, trying to thrust into the boy, but he had to let go of one of the boy’s legs and use his hand to do something between his legs before his lower body thrusts again into the boy on the video. “Yeah… You like this.” The man chuckled. “You aren’t as tight… As you used to be, but you still feel so good… Around my cock.” The video showed a bit more of the man thrusting into the boy, the boy was whimpering, though it was unclear if it was in pain or pleasure before Junji paused it and the screen when blank again. It was clear on Junji’s face he didn’t want to continue the video.

“As you can tell, Mr. Moshiia was in the video, tying up a young Mr. Satohiro then penetrating him on the bed with what is clearly stated from Mr. Mosiia’s mouth, is his cock.” Junji was remaining calm, calmer than Ichirou was, Ichirou was ready to jump across space and beat the shit out of Mr. Moshiia, but he had to remain where he was. He ran a hand through his hair and found himself relaxing.

“Objection!” Ichirou snapped his head towards the tall Angel. “The video doesn’t show any sign of penetration. For all we know, Mr. Moshiia was just rubbing himself against the boy. Which if you look at the video again the boy was not in any tears, and was enjoying himself. Our law states that sex with a Vampire minor aged twelve and older can be consensual if the parent or guardian of the child allows it. There is nothing wrong with that video.”

“Sustained.” The judge didn’t even stop to think. “I would like the jury to note that Vampire children hit puberty at the age of 12, like any human, but their bodies are maturing faster than humans do. Also, Gable is correct about our law that sex with a Vampire minor is allowed, if the minor is willing and the parents agree to it.”

Well, Junji got the shock of his life as he didn’t realize this, but he played it cool, only a short fraction of a second did his eyes go wide in shock. “I will ask Mr. Satohiro if he was allowing this to happen and if he was in fact enjoying himself.” The judge nodded her head. “Did you, Mr. Satohiro willing allow yourself to be tied up?”

Kojima was looking defeated, he seemed like anything they did or asked him, would backfire on him. “No, I had fought as hard as I could.”

“Objection!” It felt like the whole room was ready to jump the tall Angel for speaking. “There is no evidence of the boy fighting.”

“Junji, unless you have the evidence of Mr. Satohiro trying to fight off the defendant, I will have to sustain your question and his answer.” The judge looked at Junji hard. Junji nodded his head and pressed play on the video they had just seen, but pressed the rewind button, showing frame for frame of the action but in reverse. There was a fight going on, and Junji pressed play. “You fucking bastard bit me!” The naked man on the screen howled out then he slapped the naked boy so hard across the face, the boy fell to the floor. “I’ll teach you to fight back.” The man tried to grab the boy, but the boy kicked him in the face and tried to get up on his feet and run for the door, that Ichirou knew about, though it was off-screen. Then the man walked off-screen, till he was seen back on screen with the boy kicking and punching him. “Let me go! I don’t want this. You’re hurting me. Let me go!” The boy was heard shouting out while kicking and punching. He was thrown on the bed and the man got on the bed. The boy was trying to get closer to the headboard and turned to punch the man in the face, but the man caught the boy’s arm. “You bastard will feel my cock soon enough, even if I have to tie you up.” The man was seen grabbing the boy’s other arm and pinning them over his head as the man sat on the boy’s chest and started tying the boy’s wrists up. “There, now you won’t be able to fight back.” The video was paused and Junji turned to the judge.

“The objection is overruled. Continue, Junji.” The judge spoke and turned to hear more of Kojima’s answer.

“Mr. Satohiro, were the sounds you made in the video before, sounds of pleasure or pain?”

“Of pain, sir. By this time, I had stopped crying in pain, because of the sexual assault I have received from him for over two years. I felt that crying wasn’t solving anything and screaming for help wasn’t helping me either. The room was soundproof.”

The tall Angel went to stand and open his mouth, but the judge shook her head, so the Angel sat back down. That wasn’t right, was it? He was about to yell out ‘objection’ again, but because the judge shook her head, he didn’t, because she was going to overrule him, right? Was this court case somehow corrupt? Ichirou didn’t know the court setting well enough to know what was right and what was wrong? That must be Kazayuki didn’t know either, if Ichirou didn’t have the knowledge about it.

Junji turned to the jury. “This all happened four years ago before the incident that took place just last Friday. The incident that happened in that same room, but between Mr. Moshiia and Mr. Matsumoto. I will be asking Mr. Satohiro to answer a few questions that happened that night.” He turned to Kojima, it was clear Kojima wanted to get off the stand, he was sweating and his hands were shaking. “Mr. Satohiro, what made you call the police in the first place that night?”

“I had gone upstairs to check on Ichirou and Niko, I walked up the stairs and tried to open the door to the master bedroom, but it was locked. I panicked. I called the cops with my phone as I tried banging my fist on the door.”

“What happened when the police showed up?”

“The police rushed in, came to the door and they broke it down. The only light in the room was coming from the office and the bathroom, but it was clear enough to see Mr. Moshiia hunched over on the bed before he was taken out by police. I rushed in there, and I saw Niko huddled in the corner, crying. I went to Niko first to check up on him, before two of our friends followed me in and were comforting Niko. I turned around to see Ichirou, nude, on the bed in tears and I moved towards him to see if he was okay. He looked at me before I was pushed away by the police.”

Kojima seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when Junji spoke. “No further questions, your honor.” Junji walked away, as the tall Angel stood up and walked over to Kojima. Kojima tensed his arm muscles but relaxed them after a few seconds.

“It’s clear you have a history with my client, but your history is unclear. There is no physical evidence of him actually penetrated you, there are no police records of the incidents actually happen-”

“Objection,” Junji called out. “We just saw a video of an incident happening to Mr. Satohiro between him and the defendant.”

“Overruled.” The judge spoke. “Gable was talking about police evidence, Junji. I suggest keeping your ears open.” Junji sighed as he sat down, cursing himself under his breath.

“As I was saying, there are no police records of the incidents happening, so it’s clear your history with my client is unclear. As for the incident that happened just last Friday night, did you hear Mr. Matsumoto consenting to sex?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you know what was going on between Mr. Matsumoto and my client?”

“No, sir.”

“So, you had no knowledge of the relationship between Mr. Matsumoto and my client?”

“No, sir. I only know that Mr. Moshiia works as a principal at Ichirou’s school.”

“So, you have no knowledge in knowing that it wasn’t actually consensual sex?”

“No, sir. I have no knowledge of knowing.”

“I’m done with my questions.” The tall Angel walked back over to the table on the defendant’s side and sat down.

The judge cleared her throat. “I will call for a twenty-minute recess. Mr. Satohiro, you may step down now.” Kojima nodded his head and walked over to the table where Junji was standing up now and grabbing his papers and putting them into a briefcase. He walked around and helped Ichirou stand up and the three, plus Kazayuki and Niko walked out of the courtroom to the room they had previously occupied before.

Once inside, Junji walked over to the far side of the table and put his brief on the table in front of him and sat down with his head in his hands. Kazayuki leads Niko to a chair at the closest side of the table, before going over and talking to Junji. Kojima walked in with Ichirou and helped him into a chair by Niko and pulled another chair close to the two.

“This guy is rough. Where did my uncle find a lawyer like him?” Kojima whispered. “Can’t get away with anything. I know what happened to me will be excused, but even with your side of the story, there might be a chance, he will walk away.”

Niko sat there shaking his head. “I can’t do it. Ichirou, I know you tried to protect me from it, but I can’t go in there. I know that my words will be twisted. That guy, I saw him before, he’s bad news. Like no one has ever won against him when he’s defending the defendant to clear their name. Only if he was defending the plaintiff, he lost.”

Ichirou closed his eyes. “I know. The court is rigged. I figured that out already. Niko, you are going to go out there and give the answers you need to give. The judge is paid off, I’m sure of it by the looks she gives Gable. I’ve watched, she winks her eye quickly and Gable stands up and objects when he knows she can sustain it. Though Gable knows when he can object too, if he tries to stand up to object, she will shake her head to one side, telling Gable to not object.”

His words were overheard by Kazayuki and Junji. “Ichirou, are you sure about that?” Kazayuki asked him. Ichirou turned around slightly, face winced in pain for a second.

“I’m positive. I was getting annoyed and started watching the judge’s reaction. She seemed annoyed by it, to cover up about telling Gable to object. There is no way to win this, to put Kojima’s uncle away for even five years.” Ichirou told Junji and Kazayuki.

“If we all agree, we can call for a recuse. Though, it could mean a retrial if there isn’t a substitution that has already heard what is going on in this courtroom. We also need to have an excuse for this. Saying you saw actions that lead to the other lawyer objecting isn’t going to help.” Junji had pulled out a book and started going through it. It was about the laws, though the laws on the mainland. “We can call for a motion, but if the judge refuses, then we are out of luck.”

Kazayuki was looking like he was in deep thinking like he was coming up with something in his head. Ichirou wanted to know what it was, but he knew his father kept most of his thoughts to himself. Kazayuki got up and walked out of the room, even with Junji calling out to him.

“Your father is going to get himself thrown in jail one of these days.” Junji sighed and shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Ichirou asked.

“Well, your father doesn’t exactly have a good track record with the law. Though, he cleaned up his act before you were ever conceived. He knows we have to stay within this room during recess, but there he goes, leaving the room.” Junji gestured with his hand to the closed door.

Ichirou raised a brow. His father had trouble with the law before? What has his father done and why didn’t he tell Ichirou about it? Though Ichirou learns awhile ago his father was heavy into drugs, so maybe that was the reason for it. That was all on the mainland though, not here on the island.

They all sat in silence, Niko was shaking, but Ichirou was holding his one hand as Kojima held his other hand. It somewhat helped Niko relax, but he was still shaking. Junji was going over his notes, he needed to, to make sure he was understanding what was going to happen in the rest of the trial and see if there was anything he could do about it. The time was almost up when a knock came from the door, and an officer said so. They all got up, Ichirou slowly though, as Junji closed his briefcase and went opened the door for them. Kazayuki still hadn’t returned.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trial 2/4
> 
> Warnings: Explicit Evidence

Heading back inside the courtroom, Ichirou looked down the hallway and didn’t see his father anywhere. Just where did he father go? The four of them walked back to the seat they sat in before, everyone else was already inside the courtroom, and Ichirou was lost in thought, where was his father? Junji saw the look on Ichirou’s face, he leads over and whispered to him. “Don’t worry about it. Knowing your father, he’ll be back.”

And to speak of the Devil himself, Kazayuki walked into the courtroom just then. He had a telltale smirk on his face as he walked calmly into the room with his hand stuffed into his pant pockets. That gave both Junji and Ichirou a clue of what he was up to. They were dealing with a very serious matter and his father went off to pull a quick one. Ichirou rolled his eyes, as his father was still aroused by the scent he had.

Junji leans back in his chair and whispers to Kazayuki. “You really had to go and find a quickie? This is your son’s case and we are dealing with a very problematic situation right now.”

Kazayuki patted Junji on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Just go through with the court case as followed. There is no need to worry.” Junji eyed Kazayuki cautiously but before he asks, an officer came in.

“All rise for the honorable judge, Tsumaki Kagoshima.” Everyone stood up, Ichirou managed without help, as the judge walked in. She looked normal, prim and proper like before with her long black hair and shimmering blue eyes, but was that blush on her face? She looked in their direction and the blush appeared out of nowhere. Putting two and two together, Ichirou growled low in his throat. Did his father just have sex with the judge of his trial?

Everyone sat down and waited. “Now, does the plaintiff have another witness to take to the stand?” The judge asked without looking up again, as she was sorting through papers in from of her.

“Yes,” Junji stood up. “I would like to call on Niko.” He opened the gate for Niko, who was pouring with the emotion of nervousness. Ichirou wanted to get up and hug him, but even if he could do that, he was in no shape to move that fast.

Niko took the stand and took the oath before the court and sat in the chair. He was fighting off tears, his lip trembled. Junji walked up to Niko and handed him a tissue box, which Niko took without hesitation.

“Niko, I will asking you a few questions and I would like you to give your response to the court. Now, if you do not know the answer, do not guess. Just say you do not know.” Junji looked at Niko with a concerned but hard look and Niko nodded his head quick like. “My first question is, what were you doing the night of the incident between Mr. Moshiia and Mr. Matsumoto?”

“W-we had a small birthday party.”

“And where did this party take place?” Junji questioned.

“At Kojima’s house.”

Ichirou wasn’t liking where this was going. Any information that Junji questioned about what led up to the incident would make this case look bad on him. “Did you know that Mr. Moshiia was at the house?

“No, I didn’t.”

“Would you like to explain to the court what led you to Mr. Moshiia’s bedroom?”

“I… I don’t recall.”

“Objection.” The tall Angel lawyer stood. “It is clear something was going on at the party that must be-”

“Overruled.” The judge said. “The answer will stand as it is. Please continue.” That caught both Ichirou and Kojima off guard, they were sure as the question was asked, that Niko was going to have to answer.

Junji nodded his head. “Once inside the room, was the light on or off?”

“It was off.”

“So, you had no way of knowing if Mr. Moshiia was there at all?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“What did you do when you were in the room, in the dark?

“Ichirou sniffed the air.”

“What was he sniffing?”

“I don’t recall.”

Junji turned to the jury. “Recap. Niko did not know Mr. Moshiia was home, when inside the bedroom, the lights were off, it would have been dark, and Mr. Matsumoto smelled something in the room.” He turned back to Niko. “Was Mr. Matsumoto in the room before or after you entered the room?”

“Ichirou came into the room with me.” Niko lowered his head. He has missed telling the court that.

“Please remember to keep the court informed of what you are doing or who you are with.” Junji cleared his throat, he wasn’t trying to be rude, but there was missing information that Niko failed to tell. “Now, what happened next?”

Niko’s lip started to tremble. He looked at Junji and then he turned his head to Kojima and Ichirou. Tears were starting to fill his eyes. “Ichirou opened a door, I-I saw pictures, pictures of kids that I went to school with.”

Junji walked over to the table and grabbed the remote that he used before and the TV was pushed out from behind the bench. “Police have proved evidence, was this the wall of photos you saw, Niko?” He pressed a button and there on the screen was the whole wall of pictures, though it was hard to tell who the people were from the large picture of the wall.

Niko nodded his head. “Y-yes, though I only saw a half of the wall, because Ichirou was in front of me.”

Junji clicked a button and only half of the wall was shown, and the pictures were clearer to see nude, partially nude, or fully clothed pictures of children and teens. “Do you recognize any of these children in these photos here?”

“Yes.” Niko pointed a shaky hand up. “That’s my little sister, Lexi, playing on the playground with Ichirou’s sister Eliza.” Ichirou’s eyes widen, he never bothered to look at the photos close enough when he opened the door, but right there was the photo of the two girls playing on the swing set at the school. Eliza was pushing Lexi and Lexi was on the swing as her dress was lifted to reveal shorts underneath, but still, the photo was apart of the collection. Ichirou balled his hands upon his lap, holding on to the black slacks he was wearing. He was fuming, he was getting angry, but his rage was nothing compared to the rage that fuming behind him. Kazayuki was angrier than Ichirou, just learning this himself.

“And how old are your sisters?”

“They are both eleven years old, but judging from that photo, my sister was eight when her hair was cut that short.”

“This was not a recent picture of them.” Junji looked at the jury. “From this picture and these other pictures collected from the crime scene, this collection dates back well over ten years ago, around the same time Mr. Moshiia’s wife had an argument with Mr. Moshiia in front of Mr. Satohiro about the collection of photos she had found.”

This wasn’t good. Ichirou wanted so badly to get up and strangle Mr. Moshiia, but he was in no shape to do anything and they were in court. He was breathing heavily. Though, as angry as he was, nothing compared to his father. The rage coming off his father was clear, but the look on his father’s face remained stoned. He was good at hiding his anger. Ichirou gritted his teeth, till he felt a hand run through his head. It wasn’t his and it wasn’t his father’s. He turned over to Kojima sitting next to him. He did it again, run his hand through Ichirou’s hair, it was calming, it was calming him, but why? How did Kojima know how to calm Ichirou down without talking to him?

As Ichirou sat there calming down and in a state of confusion, the next question snapped his attention towards Niko. Junji had switched off the photo on the TV. “What happened after Mr. Matsumoto opened the door and you both seen these pictures.?

“I backed up and said something. I don’t recall what I said, but then Mr. Moshiia was there.”

“Where did Mr. Moshiia come from?”

“Inside that room, where the photos were.” Niko started to breathe heavy, hyperventilating on the stand. Junji waited for Niko to calm down, but he wasn’t calming down.

“Niko, we need you to continue, we need your side of the story. We need to know what happened in that bedroom.” Junji was talking calmly with Niko, as Niko was shaking and crying. “We need to know what Mr. Moshiia did when he appeared in front of the two of you.”

“I-I tried to run, he pushed me.” Niko cried into his hands after he grabbed tissues from the box.

“What happened after he pushed you?”

“I screamed for help… He appeared above me, holding me down.”

“Did you see where Ichirou was from your point of view?”

“No, not till… He got off of me.”

“When he got off of you, what happened next?”

“I-I crawled… I crawled to the corner. I watched Ichirou undress, then I saw Mr. Moshiia forcefully-” Niko broke down crying. “He took Ichirou over and over again. Ichirou cried, but never made a sound.”

“Took him how exactly?” Junji's way of remaining calm in front of Niko was exceptionally well, but Niko was becoming distraught.

“He fucked him… Mr. Moshiia stuck his cock into Ichirou’s ass…” Niko busted out into tears and full sobs, he was a wreck on the stand.

“No further questions, your honor.” Junji walked away, there was nothing he could do now. He got Niko to testify, but how was the court going to handle this? Niko was sitting on the stand, an officer came up to him and was talking to him in a whisper, Niko was seen shaking his head. The officer looked up at the judge and shook his head.

“We will take a short recess for Niko to calm himself down.” The judge said. “Remain in the courtroom.” She got up and walked off the bench and out the side door. The officer brought Niko over to the plaintiff’s side and Kazayuki took Niko from the officer. Niko fell to his knees. Ichirou was about to get up but Junji held out his hand and shook his head.

“Let your father deal with it. You can’t talk to him right now.” Junji warned Ichirou, and Ichirou growled. He could help Niko, hold Niko, tell Niko everything was alright, but he wasn’t allowed to?

Kazayuki whispered into Niko’s ear. Words that no one else could hear, Niko kept crying, hard into Kazayuki’s shirt. The sixteen-year-old wasn’t going to calm down. “Junji, pull him from the stand. He’s too worked up to continue any further.” Junji nodded his head, as Kazayuki was on the floor with Niko in his arms on the other side of the gate. Junji had gone and spoke with an officer, before returning. The officer disappeared through the side door.

A moment later the officer returned. “All rise for the honorable judge, Tsumaki Kagoshima.” The judge came walking in as everyone, but Kazayuki and Niko stood up.

“May Junji and Gable please approach the bench.” The judge looked at the two attorneys, and the two men walked up to the bench to discuss the situation with the judge. It seemed whatever they were discussing, Junji wasn’t backing down from it. The whole thing with Niko on the stand was a bad idea, but it was the evidence and testimony that would help them out a lot, Niko couldn’t continue with it, so what did that mean?

“We had him, for five years at least with Niko’s statement, but it seems if it can’t continue and the judge won’t allow what has been made clear stick. We should have asked for a substitute.” Kojima had his fist on the table and an angry look in his eyes. Ichirou could see he was regretting having Niko here, though they didn’t force him to come, he was the one who offered to testify, he just wasn’t ready to testify.

“It has come to the court's attention that Niko will not be testifying anymore.” The judge started to speak as Junji and Gable returned to their respective seats. “I have decided to let the testimony stay in the trial as Junji had finished his questioning of the witness. Niko is free to leave now.” Kazayuki nodded his head and helped Niko stand up but the teen didn’t want to, so Kazayuki picked him up bridal style and carried him out of the courtroom. “As for Mr. Matsumoto’s testimony, he will have to answer all questions and fill in all the gaps that Niko would not answer for. I’m calling for an extended recess. Forty minutes. Mr. Matsumoto, you better prepare yourself now.” The harsh cruel voice of the judge made Ichirou want to roll his eyes, but instead, he closed them and nodding his head. They were let out of the courtroom and returned to the small room where they sat in before.

Kazayuki was in the room, trying his best to pet Niko’s head and calm him down, but it wasn’t helping any. Ichirou limped into the room and sat, a bit too hard on the chair beside Niko, hissing in pain, but he wrapped his arms around Niko’s shoulders. Niko cried and looked at Kazayuki. “I wanna go home.” Kazayuki nodded his head and looked at Junji, Junji gave the okay.

“I’ll call your mama. He’ll come and get you.” Kazayuki pulled out his phone and called Yomi. Within ten minutes, Kazayuki was escorting Yomi to the back entrance before joining them back in their little break room. He looked at Ichirou and Kojima, before looking at Junji. “This is all on Ichirou now. I made a deal with the judge to overrule all the objections during Niko’s statement. I knew Niko wasn’t going to last long out there, but you finished it before he completely broke down, thank you Junji.”

“No need to thank me. Really, it sometimes is hard to keep a level head when you are just trying to get the facts out of a witness.” Junji sighed. “I felt sorry for him. I wanted to comfort him, but I know my place.”

“We all did,” Kojima spoke, looking defeated at the ground. Defeated and helpless. “I never saw him act like this before and I know the experience is traumatic, but it was beyond anything I could help with.”

They sat there in silence for a moment. “Withdrawal.” Ichirou raised his head. “When was the last time Niko popped any pills?” He looked at Kojima, who shrugged his shoulders.

“I didn’t see him have anything at the party and I know for a fact that Niko could handle going a few days without any,” Kojima informed them.

“Withdrawal from what kind of drugs?” Kazayuki asked looking at Kojima.

“Ecstasy laced with meth,” Kojima told Kazayuki and Ichirou watched Kazayuki pull out his phone again and started texting someone.

“Shaking, anxiety, agitation… He’s got all the symptoms of withdrawal I have seen before. I have to tell Yomi to keep an eye on him for a while.” Kazayuki shook his head. “He’s too young to be messing around with that, but he is an adult by standards.” Kazayuki placed his phone down and looked at Ichirou. “You better not get hooked on anything. Just, try and keep yourself clean, son.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He wasn’t wanting to try anything and seeing the state Niko was in, it was clear that this trial on top of withdrawal was taking a pretty hard toll on him. He wanted this over with as soon as possible and he glanced at the time, only a few hours into this mess, and Ichirou was up next to the stand.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trial 3/4
> 
> Warnings: Explicit Evidence

Court had begun again, the jury was seated, the defendants were in places and the plaintiffs had taken their side. The judge was back at the bench and Ichirou was seated in the witness stand. He had to hobble his way over to the stand to take the oath before he was allowed to sit down. The pain was clear on his face, though he tried not to show too much. His nerves had calmed down, he was keeping himself calm by running his hand through his hair. This was the first and hopefully the last time Ichirou would ever have to be in this position.

“Mr. Matsumoto, I will be asking you questions and I suggest you answer them to the best of your ability, without giving any guesses or opinions, is that clear?” Junji spoke in a hard cold tone to Ichirou.

Ichirou just smirks slightly. “Crystal clear.”

So it began. “Mr. Matsumoto, what is your relationship with Mr. Moshiia?”

“He is my principal at the school I attend.”

“How often do you see Mr. Moshiia at school?”

“Rarely see him at all.”

“Do you see Mr. Moshiia outside of school?”

“That’s a negative. I never saw him outside of school.” Well, that cleared up one problem. They had tried to make it seem like he had more contact with Mr. Moshiia during Kojima’s testimony.

“So, you have not seen Mr. Moshiia-”

“Objection.” The tall Angel, Gable stood. “I think they have made it clear that Mr. Matsumoto has never seen Mr. Moshiia in school or outside of school.”

“Sustained.” The judge looked at Junji. “Please refrain from stating the obvious with your questions, Junji.”

Junji nodded his head. “Mr. Matsumoto, how about you take us back to what happened that night, Friday night after you left school.”

Ichirou cleared his throat. “I got on the bus, a big yellow bus. I sat in the back of the bus, waiting for the driver to drop off the other kids, until my stop. Then I got off the bus with my sister and brother. I watched the bus pull away-”

“Objection.” Gable stood again. “The bus is irrelevant to the case.”

“Sustained.” The judge now looked at Ichirou. “Mr. Matsumoto, we like are details and facts to be about the case, so please, refrain from discussing anything that doesn’t have to deal with the case.” She looked at Junji. “Please, ask your question differently.”

Ichirou smirked like the cheeky bastard he could be and Junji looked at him with a scowl on his face, the smirk disappeared from Ichirou’s face. “Mr. Matsumoto, will you explain to the court what happened at Mr. Moshiia’s house, during the party, before you entered the bedroom of Mr. Moshiia’s.”

“Sure.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “I got to said party, it was a birthday party for some high school girl. I was hanging out in the kitchen with Kojima, Niko, and our friends. The night carried on, I danced with a friend of mine, still, I saw Niko being dragged up the stairs by this kid.”

“Let me pause you right there.” Junji put his hand up as he spoke. “The upstairs, have you ever been upstairs and know the layout?”

“Yeah, I have been upstairs once before to use the bathroom.” Ichirou thought this over. “You come up the stairs and there are four doors to your right, and three spaced out to your left. The first door on your left is the bathroom. The other doors were bedrooms.”

“Did you know exactly which one was Mr. Moshiia’s?”

“Not before going into the bedroom.” Ichirou had to roll the idea around his head. It was clear which one was Mr. Moshiia’s, but he was never told beforehand who’s door it was.

“Please, continue from where you left off, seeing Niko go upstairs.”

“Well, Niko was taken upstairs by this kid and I went back to the kitchen. I asked Kojima why he allowed Niko to go up the stairs with that kid.”

“Who is this kid exactly?”

Ichirou groaned. “Ryoji. I don’t know his last name, but he’s a kid in my class at the elementary school.”

“What happened after you left the kitchen?”

“I went up those stairs after getting my answer from Kojima and opened all the doors on the right side of the hallway, looking for Niko and this kid. I found them in the last room and I jumped this kid for letting Niko give him a blow job.” Ichirou scowled.

“After you had this fight with this kid, what happened?”

“I went to the bathroom to wash my face and hands from the blood from the fight.”

“So you used the bathroom upstairs?”

“Yes.” Ichirou gave him a short answer. He didn’t even know if there was another bathroom in the house, besides the one in Mr. Moshiia’s bedroom.

“Where did you go after you left the bathroom?”

“Well, I tried to leave the bathroom, but Niko appeared in the doorway, handing me a blood package. I was hungry, so I sucked it back quickly as Niko explained to me that the kid’s brother was coming and that we needed to hide.”

“Why did you need to hide?”

“I can’t really explain that as I don’t even know who the guy is without telling what I have been told by other kids about this guy.”

“Fair enough. So where did you hide?”

“We hid in Mr. Moshiia’s room.” Ichirou knew the part of the incident was coming up, and he ran his hand through his hair. “Niko pulled me into the room, telling me it was the safest place in the house, as long as we stayed quiet and didn’t turn on the light.”

“Did you know Mr. Moshiia was in the room?”

“Nope, not a clue.”

“So, you were in a dark room with Niko, no idea where Mr. Moshiia was, and you did what?”

“I smelled something, a scent I had smelled once before at school, so I was curious.”

“You were curious about this smell so you searched for this smell?”

“Yeah, I found the smell coming from behind a closed door. So, I opened the door.”

“What did you see behind this door?”

“Pictures, pictures of children and teens. I didn’t linger my gaze long enough to see exactly what the people in the photos were doing as I spotted Mr. Moshiia sitting at a desk within the room, looking at the video feed.”

“Video feed of what?”

Ichirou ran his hand through his hair. “Video feed of teens screwing”

“Then what did you do?”

“I backed up, Niko spoke a little too loud and Mr. Moshiia had appeared from the door looking at the both of us, but his eyes were glued to Niko.” Ichirou bit his lip. “Niko was tossed aside and Mr. Moshiia locked the door from the inside with a key and I watched him put the key in his pocket and that’s when I realized he was aroused and his dick was sticking out of his pants.”

“So, then Mr. Moshiia went to assault Niko, but you stopped him, how?”

Ichirou’s leg started to bounce. He realized how bad this was going to sound as soon as he spoke it. “I offered my body up. To protect Niko from being raped by him. I-I had to do something, I wasn’t strong enough to fight him.”

This came as a shock to Junji, his own lawyer who should have known this already. “You offered yourself up? You realize you are a minor?”

“I know I’m a minor and I knew what would happen, I just had to protect Niko from it.” Ichirou was started rocking back and forth in the seat, the pain on his face wasn’t from the memories, but from the pain that was still present for the assault.

“Explain to us what happened in detail.”

“Why not just show the god damn video, Junji? I know you have it.” Ichirou growled lowly. “What is it you want me to say? Yes, I allowed myself to be raped by Mr. Moshiia the first time. I allowed it to happen without fighting back. As painful as it was, I allowed it.”

“Mr. Matsumoto, please keep yourself calm at my bench.” The judge spoke and looked at Ichirou. “Answer the questions you are given, evidence will be presented when it is time.”

“You allowed the assault to happen the first time, is this correct?”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Yes, I allowed it the first time.”

“And what of the second and third time?”

“I was… I was barely conscious of those two times.” Ichirou looked down.

Junji nodded his head and turned to the jury. “This is the hardest part of the case for the victim, the replay of the actual assault. These videos I am about to show you have never been viewed by anyone but myself and the police. There are three of them. The first one is the first assault, they will be played in order.” Junji walked over to the table and grabbed the remote as the TV was shown once again. He pressed a button and it started playing from the beginning.

“Everything off. Now!” Came the voice of Mr. Moshiia. Ichirou didn’t bother watching it, he knew what was happening, he was reliving it in his head, he didn’t need to see himself on display. There was a pleasing hum coming from the video, coming from Mr. Moshiia. “And underwear. I won’t be able to fuck you with those on.” Ichirou was wringing his hands together. Rocking back and forth became too much for Ichirou do, so he stopped doing that and went back to bouncing his leg. “You might as well show the camera your junk because I’m going to be enjoying it myself soon enough.” Ichirou was just glad Niko wasn’t here to see it, that he wouldn’t see Ichirou exposing himself. “You are indeed growing, but you still have a ways to go. Your cock may be flaccid for now, but you still have a few more years to grow. You might have an above-average cock, that pleases me. How do you feel about that?” Ichirou didn’t care for his comment, it made him sick this time around hearing it. He would be throwing up right now if it were possible. He barely had any food content in his stomach, as his last meal was at the hospital this morning, and he refused supper before they came to court. “Now, come here.” He could feel the hand on the back of his neck. “Look towards the camera.” He could feel the ghost of a hand slipping between his butt cheeks, he heard himself silently gasp, the only sound was the quick breath in. “No tensing. You said you wouldn’t struggle.” Ichirou tried to not squirm on the chair he was sitting on, he was in enough pain as it was, but the memory playing in his head told him he had been penetrated by Mr. Moshiia’s thick fingers. “Good boy. Now stay where you are.” A few drawers opened and shut, Ichirou swallowed, it was going to happen. “Get ready, kid. You asked for it.” Then Ichirou heard his voice, a soft cry from the penetration, and the video was stopped.

Ichirou realized now how Junji had three videos to show. Mr. Moshiia never stopped the camera from rolling, but Junji had cut the videos short to display. He didn’t want to see the next one, he didn’t even want to hear the next one. He had a few flash memories of it, but he rather keep those as just memories.

Mr. Moshiia was heard laughing. “Look at this. You didn’t even want to leave. Not like you could have left anyway.” Ichirou the chance, his elbows on his knees, one hand in a fist and the other wrapped around it, his head was leaning against his hands and he looked to the screen from the corner of his eye. The man, Mr. Moshiia walked up to the camera and picked it up, before walking with the camera in hand, the camera was on Niko, who was shaking in the corner. “I just showered, but I could go for seconds. What do you say, Niko?” The man behind the camera bent down in front of Niko. A hand reached out and grabbed Niko’s hand and the camera followed Niko’s hand, as the man had made Niko rub his soft-looking cock. “Hmm, I’d love to feel that pretty little mouth of yours.” Ichirou swallowed as the camera moved away from Niko and the man tried to turn Niko’s face towards the camera, but Niko didn’t budge. “Fine, you little slut. I’ll just take your boyfriend over there again unless you are going to stop me with your mouth and ass.” Niko didn’t budge, fear clear on his face as he squeezed his eyes shut. The camera turned around and moved over to Ichirou’s nude body. He was curled on his side but he was turned on his back, away from the edge of the bed as the man climbed on the bed with the camera. “You better be watching, Niko.” The man moved the camera to the bed, near Ichirou’s face, which he could tell he was still sleeping at that point. The camera was placed far enough to way to you could see it was Mr. Moshiia on the video stroking himself and panting. “Fuck, this tight ass is just dripping for me to take it.” Mr. Moshiia groaned as he continued to rub himself fast, till his short and chubby cock was erect. He grabbed the camera again and somehow, Ichirou was bent in an unusual position, where his face and his cum filled asshole were on the screen. “You watching this, Niko?” The camera moved quickly to Niko, who looked up slightly from the corner, then the camera was faced backed at Ichirou’s asshole and face with his cock lined up. Then his cock slipped in so easily, but that also woke Ichirou up on the screen, he gasped loudly and clenched his eyes shut, as the man didn’t even start slow, he was brutally thrusting into Ichirou as the camera was focused on it. Then the video stopped.

Ichirou was embarrassed, in shock, and starting to sweat. He didn’t want to see the next video. He didn’t even what to hear it. He looked at the judge as the judge nodded to Junji to start the next one, he looked for the first time towards the defendant, towards Mr. Moshiia. The man had on the biggest grin, looking right at Ichirou, licking his lips as the third video started.

“Shit, I have to cum again.” He fought the urge to watch it. He closed his eyes so tight to keep himself from even glancing at the screen. “Though, I think I need some blood to get myself up.” Ichirou already had an image of the man biting into his neck just as he was cumming and the door being smashed open by the police, he didn’t need to watch this one. Heavy breathing and sucking sounds came from the TV. Ichirou trembled in his seat. “Hmm, you are soft still, no matter how much I play with you.” Ichirou shivered, he never realized that Mr. Moshiia had touched his cock at all. There was no memory of it, thankfully. “I wonder if I suck some blood through to make your hard.” Then it was quiet for the moment in the room, until a few men were heard groaning and a woman gasping from the jury. He could guess what happened. Ichirou wanted to cry, but as much as he wanted to cry, he made sure he wouldn’t. Not here, not ever again, if Ichirou could help it. “Fuck, didn’t work. You are a bleeder though.” The man chuckled from the TV. “Shit, I need your virgin ass again. Though, I guess after tonight you won’t be a virgin anymore. Though, you will be mine again.” Some shuffling was heard and then a groan from the TV that wasn’t from the man, but from Ichirou, himself. Then grunting from the man on the TV. “Fuck. Next week… I’m going to call you… Into my office… For the whole day… And do this again…. And again till… Till the end of the school year… Fuck, I’m, shit.” Then the sound of the door being smashed was heard. “Police!” And the video was stopped.

Junji sighed before he cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, that is all the evidence I will show you. You can let your minds go wild about what happened to Mr. Matsumoto, but please, judge that man, Mr. Moshiia on what you have seen from the videos.” Ichirou finally opened his eyes and looked at Junji who was looking stoned face at Ichirou. “No further questions, your honor.” He walked away and sat back in his chair. Ichirou was hoping that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t.

The tall Angel lawyer, sitting beside Mr. Moshiia, stood up and made his way over to Ichirou, who was still sitting in the stand. The Angel smiled at the judge, before turning his attention to Ichirou. “Mr. Matsumoto, you must be feeling guilty-”

“Objection.” Junji stood. “Gable would not know how my client is feeling without asking him first.”

The judge looked in Junji’s direction. “Overruled.” She turned to Gable. “Please direct a question to Mr. Matsumoto without suggesting his feelings.”

The tall Angel nodded his head, as he glared hard at the judge. “May I ask how you are feeling, Mr. Matsumoto?”

Sitting there in the chair, Ichirou looks hard at the Angel lawyer. “I’m in pain. Physically and mentally.”

“You don’t look to be in any-”

“Objection.” Junji stood up again. “Gable would not be able to tell what mental pain looks like and would not understand the physical pain my client is in.”

“Overruled.” The judge raises her brows at the tall Angel. “Gable, please. Your questions are not following order.”

Gable scowled at the judge now. “Seems there is something going on here that I must have missed.” He said it low enough Ichirou could hear it, but he was sure the judge didn’t hear it. He looked at Ichirou and studied his face. “Mr. Matsumoto, how well do you know, Mr. Satohiro?”

Ichirou looked over at Kojima, he seemed to lose all color in his face at just that question, holding his head with his elbows resting on the table. Why? It was just a question, a question Ichirou had to choose wisely. “We aren’t friends if that’s what you are implying.” It was the truth, neither of them claimed to be friends with each other.

“I’m not implying anything, it was just a simple question.” Gable walked towards the jury. “You see, Mr. Matsumoto accused Mr. Satohiro of having the power of manipulation back when Mr. Matsumoto finally went to school. He told this to the principal, Mr. Moshiia, and he was warned not to accuse Mr. Satohiro of such a thing. Vampires have the ability to gain another ability besides the ones they are born with. Though, many Vampires don’t have the knowledge to unlock their ability, if they even have one, to begin with.” He turned back to Ichirou. “How did you know Mr. Satohiro had this ability?”

“Objection.” Junji looked at the judge. “What does this have to do with the case?”

“It has everything to do with the case, Junji.” The tall Angel looked at Junji then at the judge.

The judge thought hard about this but finally gave in with a sigh. “Sustained.”

Gable turned back to Ichirou with a grin. He was waiting for Ichirou’s answer. Ichirou didn’t have an exact answer to this question. He had a feeling, he felt it before that why he accused Kojima of having that power. The power of manipulation, though now that Ichirou thought hardback on it, it wasn’t manipulation, it was the power of suggestion. Kojima told him once to go home and cry to his mommy. He felt the need to do just that, but Ichirou didn’t have a mother so the need was diminished. He was starting to put pieces together in his head, slowly. Though, there were a lot of things that didn’t add up.

“I didn’t know. There was no way for me to know. I was only seven at the time, new to this world. I was raised on a tour bus as a toddler on the mainland with my father. He didn’t believe that school would help me, but he made me go when I was seven so I could make friends and know children my age instead of wasting my knowledge on video games, listening to music, and going to concerts.”

“That’s right, you didn’t know. Yet, somehow you came to the realization that it could be true. What if I told you it was true?” Gable smiled and turned to the jury. “You see, Mr. Satohiro was tested in fact, but not at the age of five. He was tested at the age of ten after Ichirou had put him in the hospital from a little schoolyard fight. No one, not even Mr. Satohiro himself knew he had this ability. Ichirou had hurt him so badly, the bruises from the attack were clear from the first video that was viewed during Mr. Satohiro’s testimony. After Mr. Moshiia pulled Mr. Satohiro from the elementary school that Ichirou was attending, that night when Mr. Moshiia came into Mr. Satohiro’s room to lay with him, Mr. Satohiro made the suggestion that Mr. Moshiia might as well make him do inappropriate things to him. That’s how it all started. That’s why Mr. Moshiia had Mr. Satohiro tested at that age, because he, himself didn’t believe what he had done to Mr. Satohiro.”

Ichirou rolled this information in his head. Mr. Moshiia was already touching Kojima, already abusing him in such a manner, that Ichirou’s fight with Kojima, made Kojima suggest to Mr. Moshiia to sexual assault him. Though before that, Kojima was afraid to be alone with Mr. Moshiia, so he always had his friends go into the office with him. Kojima couldn’t have suggested to Mr. Moshiia that the other kids started it. It made little sense that way. No, Mr. Moshiia gave Kojima the free pass to bully so Kojima wouldn’t bring to the light the nightly visits made by Mr. Moshiia. It was all falling into place. Ichirou looked at Kojima, who was still not looking his way and holding his head as if he was covering his ears.

Ichirou smirked. The pieces of the puzzle were just sorting themselves out, though there were still a few missing before the puzzle could be completed. Gable looked at Ichirou, thinking he had won, but seen the smirk on Ichirou’s face and that left him puzzled, so to say.

“Why is it you are smiling? Your so-called friend, Mr. Satohiro just made you a victim of his own pleasure.”

Ichirou shook his head and looked at the judge. “May I have free speech to talk without being questioned?”

The judge looked shocked by this turn of events, and now she was being asked if he could speak freely. This was unheard of, that even Junji was shocked. Gable didn’t understand what Ichirou was up to. “Ah, I guess, if you wish to speak freely, you would have to discuss it with your lawyer, first.”

Junji got up and made his way to Ichirou. “What are you doing? You can’t speak freely. Anything you say can go against you and you can’t make suggestions or opinions.” He whispered to Ichirou.

“What if I told you, they were trying to turn me against Kojima, because of Kojima’s mistake. One little suggestion turned Kojima’s world around, that’s why he doesn’t care about his abuse, because it was his fault that it even started to happen. Though, his suggestion didn’t turn Mr. Moshiia into the monster that he is today. He needs his satisfaction, his release, and that’s why he hunts down on little boys and girls. He was a collector of children’s photos before, that was his fault, Kojima just made his fantasies a reality. He didn’t know how to act on it when Kojima got bigger and stronger than him. That’s why he set up those cameras in his house, so he could watch young people fuck each other.”

Junji looked at Ichirou, blinking. He would have never thought of half the stuff Ichirou just thought of. “My client, Mr. Matsumoto has something to say. It may seem like it is his opinion, but if you put the facts and evidence altogether and the testimonies of witnesses, it isn’t his opinion, but a fact.” He hoped he was doing the right thing in letting Ichirou stand up to speak for himself, on his behalf, for everyone.

“Gable, please take your seat, you have no further questions for Mr. Matsumoto. Junji, take your seat as well.” The judge sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. “This better be good, and anyone who objects to this will be kicked out of my courtroom for the rest of this trial, understood?” She didn’t even wait for a response. “It’s been a long night and I am getting very grumpy about this whole case. Mr. Matsumoto, you have the stand, or shall I say the floor.”

Ichirou tried standing up and had to lean against the bench railing in front of him, with his hands holding him up. He winced in pain, but he kept his breathing steady. Ichirou looked at the jury, keeping his eyes on them. “I will start by saying Mr. Moshiia is a very sick man. Even before the sexual abuse started on Mr. Satohiro.” He was trying to keep it formal, just like the lawyers. “Mr. Moshiia collected pictures of children, that is something that can’t be denied. It’s clear it wasn’t just a hobby, but a fantasy, as his wife left him, he had to find his release in someone and having a child under his roof, Mr. Satohiro, his fantasy became a reality. Every night for about five years, he went into Mr. Satohiro’s room and touched him and rubbed himself against the boy. He was living his fantasy out.” Ichirou closed his eyes for a moment, the pain of standing up was starting to become unbearable, but he needed to do this. He needed to get this out. “During those five years, Mr. Moshiia was the principal at the elementary school that Mr. Satohiro and I attended. This was before my time, but Mr. Moshiia made sure Mr. Satohiro kept his mouth shut about the sexual abuse he was getting from Mr. Moshiia, by letting Mr. Satohiro let his anger and aggression out on the students that attended the school, and punished the students that Mr. Satohiro bullied, instead of Mr. Satohiro.”

Ichirou’s knees started to shake from the pain, straining himself like this. He bit his lip and regained control of his breathing. “When I came to the school in the middle of my first-grade year, Mr. Satohiro was already in the fifth-grade year, he set his sights on me because I was new. I got suspended and I blamed Mr. Satohiro for that, but I also found out he hurt my sister, so I went after him after school while I was suspended and beat him up in the worse shape he probably ever felt in his whole life at the time. That’s how those bruises got on his body. He was absent from school for almost a whole week till he came back to the school, still in rough shape. An incident happened at school that had me and a teacher in Mr. Moshiia’s office. That was the last we saw Mr. Satohiro at that school. That night, not knowing his ability of suggestion was connected to his Vampire powers, he made the greatest mistake of his life. Mr. Satohiro had suggested that Mr. Moshiia just act out his fantasies with him, because he was defeated, physically, because of my actions.”

The shaking became too much as his arms started to shake under his weight as well. Sweat dripped from his forehead. Ichirou seethed a bit. The officer near him caught him before he fell on the ground. “I’m sorry, I wish I was stronger and healed already, but I can’t stand anymore.” He told the jury, but he was looking at the officer as he spoke and he was placed in the chair.

“To continue, Mr. Moshiia acted out his fantasies on Mr. Satohiro for two years. Just from one suggestion. Now, remember this suggestion was for Mr. Moshiia to use Mr. Satohiro’s body as he pleased. Mr. Satohiro got stronger and his power of suggestion diminished on Mr. Moshiia because he wasn’t that same weak boy he was two years ago. This left Mr. Moshiia to find some way to act out his fantasies, as Mr. Satohiro started high school and became a jock, and jocks love to party in celebration of their victories, he installed cameras in his house and allowed Mr. Satohiro host these parties, so he could watch the action that happens in the spare bedrooms. That was how Mr. Moshiia was getting his rocks off. Then, low and behold, Mr. Satohiro figured as long as Niko and I didn’t make noise and stayed quiet, Mr. Moshiia’s bedroom would be the safest place. Though my curious mind got us caught, and of course, Mr. Moshiia had just watched from his hidden cameras Niko giving some kid a blow job and watched me beat the shit out of this kid. That’s why when we were caught, he was going after Niko, so he could get that blow job from him. I offered my body to save my friend from the abuse I knew I could mentally handle. Mr. Moshiia acted out his fantasies on me that he used to act out on Mr. Satohiro, without any suggestion or manipulation about his actions. Mr. Moshiia was in complete control of his own actions at the time.”

Ichirou shut his mouth and looked around the courtroom. The jury had listened to his words, taking it all in. The defense table was caught off guard, even Mr. Moshiia, sitting in the middle of the two lawyers he probably paid a good penny for, was fuming with anger at Ichirou’s words. At the plaintiff’s table, Junji had a slight smile on his face. Behind him, Kazayuki was trying not to laugh, probably proud at Ichirou for figuring it out the truth. Kojima was sitting there, no longer covering his face, shocked. Ichirou looked up at the judge, she seemed deep in thought.

There were a few minutes of silence, no one even spoke nor whispered to each other, till the judge cleared her throat. “I’m not even going to ask the attorneys for their closing statements. Mr. Moshiia has pleaded not guilty to all charges and surrendered his testimony. I will ask the jury to please exit and call a recess till the verdict comes in. Dismiss till then.” The judge gathered up some files on her bench and walked down from the bench.

Ichirou was in shock, just like that the trial was coming to an ending, soon. He tried to stand up, but realize he couldn’t feel his legs. He looked down at his legs and the officer who had helped him sit down earlier came up to him. “You need to step down from the stand and exit before the defense can exit.”

“I would love to, but I can’t feel my legs.” Ichirou looked at the officer, the worry on his face made the officer nod his head and he gestured to Kazayuki to come to collect Ichirou. Kazayuki came over and looked at Ichirou. “I can’t walk, like at all. I can’t even move my legs.”

“Oh, boy. This is going to be serious.” Kazayuki picked Ichirou up and carried him. “You’re not a child anymore and you’re not small. This will be the only time I carry you like this, boy.” He smirked as they left the courtroom with Kojima and Junji.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trial 4/4
> 
> Warnings: Implied Underage Sexual Acts

The room was quiet, Kazayuki had sat Ichirou in a chair and Junji had called the hospital if there was a doctor that could come to the courthouse to check out a victim in a trial. That was the only way they would send anyone to the courthouse, instead of sending the ambulance to come to pick up the victim. They were waiting on the doctor, Kazayuki was waiting outside, as Junji and Kojima sat with Ichirou.

Ichirou knew something was wrong, something permanent and if they would have just let him heal himself when he was in the hospital this wouldn’t be a problem. He thought of checking out his injury, Kazayuki told him to wait till Ichirou had the extra blood to do it. They didn’t have any at the courthouse and if Ichirou let his power take over and not able to stop himself, he could kill himself. Ichirou said he could control it, but they didn’t believe him, so he was waiting with them for a doctor.

The door opened to Kazayuki, letting in a doctor. The doctor was an Angel male, it was clear to Ichirou. He smiled at Ichirou sweetly. “I’m Dr. Micheal.” He placed a medical bag on the table. “What seems to be the issue here? I understand you are still in trial, so I will address what I can.”

Ichirou sighed. “I can’t feel my legs, nor can I move them. I was standing during the trial and my legs just gave out.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was at the hospital for four days and just released today, this afternoon. I could walk, slowly and move, but I was in so much pain.”

“What was the reason for your stay?” The doctor asked, as he pushed the black slacks up on his legs to his knees and was touching and moving Ichirou’s leg, but Ichirou wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t watching him.

“Rape. I’m a rape victim and I was taken very roughly and I was bent in different positions.” Ichirou didn’t care if the doctor knew, soon everyone will learn of the outcome of the trial in the newspaper, he just hoped his name would remain out of the paper.

“Hmm.” The doctor looked up at Ichirou. “I think you have what is called spinal cord injury. You will have to be re-emitted into the hospital for further examination.” The doctor didn’t seem to happy in telling Ichirou what it was.

“Spinal cord injury.” Ichirou closed his eyes for a moment. “You mean, I am stuck like this. Damage to my spinal cord caused me to lose the ability to walk and feel my legs. Well, I haven’t lost the ability of my organs so that’s a good sign.”

“Sorry, but that’s the only diagnosis I can give you, without further examination at the hospital with the equipment.” The doctor gave a slight smile. “Though, if you get lucky or if you pay the expensive bill, you might get the best doctor we have, who can heal any injury with a touch of his hands.”

“Yeah, we know him,” Kazayuki spoke. “He helped with my son when he was young. My son healed himself and most of the permanent damage that was caused by an injury, but he almost killed himself.”

The doctor blinked. “Why did you call? I mean, if your son here can heal himself that would be the first thing I would have done, as long as it doesn’t cause him serious life-threatening injuries.”

“They won’t let me.” Ichirou looked at Kazayuki and Kojima, both guilty of stopping him. “Plus, I need blood in my body to heal myself, I have the blood I need to survive, but I have to drink extra, or rather more than normal to heal myself of anything permanent. Even then, I’m inexperienced with healing, I make myself so sick and dizzy from it.” Ichirou sighed.

“Understood. I will stay with you, till your trial is finished unless I get paged. Then I will take you to the hospital and we’ll make sure you get scanned so we know what is damaged. I’ll watch over you as you heal yourself and make sure you are fully fed and your blood count doesn’t drop too low.” The doctor smiled friendlier now. “That’s all I can do for you if you can heal yourself.”

Ichirou smirked. “That would be perfect. The last time I healed, was a few Friday’s ago and it was cartilage damage in someone’s knees. Had to repair the whole tissue damage, as it was torn like something mad.”

“Well, if healing tissue is your art, you might just have a future job in the medical field. I think it’s something to look into.” The doctor seemed like he was looking at a young doctor in front of him. Ichirou chuckled.

“Maybe, we’ll see.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. He understood that was a lot of schooling to just become a doctor and he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to further his education at this point in his life.

* * *

The courtroom was filled again. The two Angel lawyers were talking to themselves and Mr. Moshiia, seemed they were worried. Kazayuki brought Ichirou in, making everyone look in his direction, there wasn’t a wheelchair in the building that Ichirou could use, so this was the next best thing. Let his father carry him. The doctor joined Kazayuki in the seats behind them.

Junji looked over at Kojima and Ichirou and whispered. “If we win this case, it’ll be the first time these guys have been defeated while on the defendant’s side. I hope we get some sort of verdict in our favor.”

Ichirou nodded his head. Kojima smiled. “I think we will, after all, Ichirou made a very clear case on his own without putting too much suggestion in his words.” He looked at Ichirou, who smirked back at him.

“All rise for the honorable judge, Tsumaki Kagoshima.” The judge walked in, and that's when Ichirou noticed the jury still wasn’t in the courtroom. Were they still deciding on a verdict? Of course, he was the only one in the courtroom who didn’t stand up. And the judge noticed this as she took her seat and everyone sat down.

“Mr. Matsumoto, I know we are very tired, but you still have to follow the rules of the court.” The judge was looking at him with a very stern look.

The doctor behind Junji stood up. “If I may.” The judge looked at the doctor and then back at Ichirou. She nodded her head. “I am Dr. Micheal. I have given my diagnosis of Ichirou Matsumoto’s injuries, without medical equipment present. We may have a case of spinal cord injury. Being as the trial is almost wrapped up here, we will be proceeding to the hospital once the court is adjourned.” The doctor bowed his head to the judge.

“Hmm, very serious injury. It is clear that we all watched you walked into this courtroom, you even stood to take the stand, but you were not fully checked out at the hospital, and straining yourself caused you more injury. We know these injuries were caused by Mr. Moshiia’s assault towards you. If you find that you are struggling, you can sue him for the injury he caused you. Though, in this case, we can not bring your injuries to the testimony, is this clear?”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Yes, crystal clear.” The judge gestured to the officer to open the door and all ten jury members walked in, the last one on the end held a piece of paper.

“Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?” The judge spoke out as a jury member stood up and nodded his head. “You may proceed.”

The jury member cleared his throat. “We, the jury have found Mr. Moshiia, charged with child endangerment, to be not guilty.” Ichirou blinked a few times, how is that possible? How did they come up with that? “Mr. Moshiia has also been charged with child sexual abuse and child pornography and we, the jury have found Mr. Moshiia to be guilty.” The paper was handed to the officer, who handed the paper to the judge, and the judge looked over it. There was a reason why child endangerment wasn’t found guilty and it was written on that paper. The judge nodded her head, agreeing to the verdict.

“Mr. Moshiia, please stand.” All the members at the defendant’s table stood. “Mr. Moshiia, you did not endanger a child’s life with your actions, but that is not the only thing you are charged with. You are charged with child sexual abuse and child pornography, and for that, you will spend eighteen years in prison on the mainland.” The judge picked up a wooden hammer on her bench. “The jury is thanked and excused. The court is adjourned.” She smacked the hammer down and got up, leaving the courtroom. Kojima breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled at Ichirou. Ichirou smirked back at him. Kazayuki patted both Ichirou and Junji on the back. It was a victory, a victory that Ichirou was proud to have.

Mr. Moshiia, in his orange jumpsuit, was escorted out of the courtroom by two officers and the two tall Angel lawyers came over to Junji, as Junji stood up. “You may have won this case, but remember, not all your clients are going to speak for themselves. If that child would have kept his mouth shut like a good little boy, Mr. Moshiia would be back at school tomorrow.” They both scowled and looked at Kazayuki. “Don’t think you can worm your way into the pants of the next judge, we will be seeing you again, soon.”

Kazayuki smirked at the two of them, as they walked off, then he looked back at the three staring at him with curious looks. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing serious. I’m just supporting someone in court, just like I supported you guys. I’m not on trial.”

“Sometimes, it’s hard to be your friend and your band member when you keep things to yourself.” Junji chuckled. “Though, I quite enjoy the rides you take me on. Always another turn of events that keeps me on my seat.” He picked up his briefcase. “Since I’m finished here, are you going to drive me home?”

Kazayuki picked up Ichirou, with Kojima’s help. He was giving Ichirou a piggyback ride, instead of carrying him out like a bride. “After we get him to the hospital,” Kazayuki smirked.

“Well, I can take him in my car and you all can meet us there. It’ll be better that way to not have everyone come at once until I can get settled into a room.” The doctor held the gate open for all of them and they headed out of the courtroom.

“I could take you home before I go to the hospital,” Kojima suggested to Junji. “That way, Kazayuki could go to the hospital to help carry Ichirou.”

Kazayuki shook his head. “You aren’t coming to the hospital, Kojima. You aren’t exactly a family, but you have someone else that needs your support.” Kojima looked at Kazayuki narrowing his eyes at his words. “Niko.” Kojima’s eyes widen and he quickly pulled out his mobile phone and was calling someone, probably Niko. Kojima took a set of keys out of his pocket and rushed out as fast as he could out of the courthouse. “Doctor, take care of him. I’ll be there to pay for any medical bill.”

“You act like I can’t speak for myself,” Ichirou growled in Kazayuki’s ear. “What do you know that I don’t know about Niko?”

“He’s having it rough and Yomi is doing all he can, but Niko needs support that a mother can’t give. His withdrawal symptoms are escalating to violence and Yomi isn’t exactly the strongest to hold Niko down.” Kazayuki told Ichirou. “And you are in no position to hold him down either.”

“Ecstasy withdrawal symptoms in a Vampire attack their brain in a different way than they would a human or an Angel. It causes a violent, feeding frenzy in Vampires. Looking at your friend Kojima there. He is what we classify in the medical world as an Alpha build. He would indeed have the strength to hold down your friend no matter what build your friend is, Alpha or Omega.” The doctor explained as they left the courthouse through the back entrance.

“What is an Alpha or Omega build?” Ichirou inquired.

The doctor chuckled as he directed them towards his car. “If you went for a medical degree you would learn this. Humans have the ability to change their build, muscle, and fat wise. If there isn’t a medical issue. Angels are slim, do not possess immaculate strength, so we are classified as Omegas. Our bodies don’t change physically, we just grow into adults with the same body we had as children, though we can gain muscle tone if we choose. There are three different builds of Vampires. Omega Vampires are much like Angels, they are slim in comparison to an Alpha build. Alphas are much like your friend there, bigger in comparison to an Omega build with strength and stamina to go with it.”

“I did not realize that. Though, now that you say it. I do notice the difference in others.” Junji was quite amazed at learning about this. “Though, you did say there are three builds when concerning a Vampire. What is the third build?”

“Well, the third build isn’t looked into as much as the others, because the third build is what we classify as Beta builds. They don’t have the extra reproduction organ that everyone who was born here would have, so they are from the mainland. They are a mystery to even us because each one is different. Some are strong, some have the stamina, some are slim figures, some are chubby. It’s much like humans but they are born with it, they can’t change their physical appearance. Though, I wouldn’t worry much about that. We don’t have many mainland Vampires here.”

“Well, we are mainland Vampires, as you say.” Kazayuki chuckled, making the doctor turn around just as he was about to put the key into the door to open it. “It’s on the medical record when you register Ichirou into the hospital.”

“Well, that explains why they didn’t look into him more. They would have looked further into his injuries if they treated him as a human.” The doctor said as he opened the door for Kazayuki to put Ichirou inside his car. “But we will get everything dealt with and hopefully you will be walking out of the hospital soon enough.”

Kazayuki ruffled Ichirou’s hair. “See you there, kid. I’ll be there after I drop Junji off at home.” He gave Ichirou a wink and closed the door. Ichirou sighed as the doctor climbed into the car. He turned his head towards the doctor.

“How come Vampires born on the mainland aren’t well known, I thought a lot of Vampires came here to escape the mainland?” Ichirou asked him, the doctor knew a bit more than he expected.

The doctor shook his head as he drove off to the hospital, doing the speed limit. “I know they scan through applications and if the Vampire doesn’t seem fit to fit into this society, they are turned away. Your father, he applied, and I know he is an entertainer and he even applied with his human bandmates, on top of that. I’m guessing you were apart of the application too. That would make all of you all seem worthy of fitting into this society. Vampires do outnumber humans and Angels, but most of the Vampires were born here. This island has been around for centuries, and if you heard the folk tale about this island, you would understand why there is more of you Vampires. Males born here have the extra reproduction organ, but it seems even with the means to reproduce, children aren’t many, because adults in this society don’t have the want or need to reproduce, but the act is sought out. You’ll understand that the older you get. Most times there are about twenty births in a year.”

Ichirou nodded. There was a lot they didn’t teach in school about this island. They only covered things Ichirou already knew about, the mainland and the history and world outside of the island. One day he will understand and learn more about this island and see where he fits into this society, as everything he knows was completely different.

* * *

After Dr. Micheal helped get Ichirou admitted into the hospital, Kazayuki showed up. Ichirou was hooked up to a bloodline making sure his blood level wouldn’t drop. Ichirou was placed on a bed, he was laying down, completely stretched out, and only wearing a hospital gown. Kazayuki said he would stay with him the whole time, and he did.

With the doctor nearby, having all the scans on Ichirou’s body completed, Ichirou was allowed to heal himself. It was indeed a spinal cord injury affecting the nerves. The doctor said the nerves were dead, but Ichirou had confidence in himself to fix them. Only he would know his own power. When Ichirou began, Kazayuki watched the blood disappear, faster than expected, Ichirou was panting and sweating, though didn’t stop himself.

A three blood transfers later, Ichirou opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling, before he turned on his side, with his whole body and hurled into a wastebasket that was there. Of course, the wastebasket caught the majority of it, but the wastebasket wasn’t for waste disposal of that kind.

The doctor had checked everything out on Ichirou, finding that Ichirou was only feeling the side effects of dehydration. He joked about Ichirou needing to drink more water, but Ichirou said he hated it. That’s when the doctor told Ichirou that using his powers to a high extent like that, he was causing himself dehydration and he needed to start drinking water more often if he was going to use his powers, even for minor injuries.

Ichirou and Kazayuki learned a bit more about the extent of Ichirou’s powers and that the vomiting was induced by the exhaustion of using his powers, which then brought on dehydration. If Ichirou drank water, he wouldn’t get exhausted, which would cease the vomiting, and he would skip the dehydration stage altogether. With that information from the doctor and an examination of his body and movement, Ichirou was able to walk out of the hospital with his father.

Kazayuki dropped Ichirou off at home and explained everything to Mizuki from the trial and the visit to the hospital. It was late at night, so Ichirou was just glad to be home and find himself asleep in his bed. Kazayuki said farewell to Mizuki and left the condominium. In the underground parking lot, Kazayuki looked at his car, before looking beside it and sees his motorcycle. Even though he didn’t live there, Mizuki allowed Kazayuki to keep one vehicle there at a time, since Kazayuki had paid for the three lots when he lived there. He left a spare key to his car upstairs, but only took the car if he was taking passengers. The rest of the time he drove his motorcycle.

So, taking the motorcycle, he left the underground parking garage of the condominium and drove himself home. Though, home to him wasn’t with his band members in the four-bedroom house they bought when they first moved to the island. No, home to him was in an apartment building, in a grungy area. Sure, where his band lived was pleasant, with its issues, but this area he lived in now wasn’t a friendly area to live in. He even had to park his motorcycle behind a steel door, and not leave it on the street.

Walking up a few flights of stairs, he walked down a hallway to the door with a missing number and the other number hanging upside down. He unlocked the door and closed the door behind. He flipped on the light and it showed his new studio apartment. The bathroom off to the right side, there was a kitchen area to the left and there was the rest of the room. Two fold-out couches, a dresser with a TV on it, and two armchairs. There was enough room for the fold-out couches to be folded out. It was cramped but it was home and livable. One couch was folded out, it was against the wall, where the other couch wasn’t and was facing the dresser with the TV on it.

Kazayuki walked over to the small kitchen area, opened the fridge and all that was inside was beer, so he grabbed one out and walked over to the folded out couch and kicked it. “Get up. You have school in the morning.”

On the fold-out couch were two teens, a boy, and a girl. The boy sat up, the blanket falling from his shoulders, showing off his toned chest and arms, much like Kazayuki’s body, but Kazayuki had more muscle tone. He had a red dragon tattoo on his left arm that went over his shoulder and ended somewhere on his back. His hair was unkempt, not short, nor long, auburn brown. Above his left eye were two eyebrow piercings, he had a septum piercing in his nose, and a right lower lip piercing. His eyes, red with the line of purple swirl around the circular edge of his iris’, looked up at Kazayuki with a click of his tongue. “Fuck off.” His face, looked so similar to Kazayuki’s, but had more of a feminine jawline, had he looked like he didn’t care, he was tired and rolling his eyes at Kazayuki, all at once.

“Get up and get her up too.” Kazayuki pointed with his finger with his beer can in his hand, before he walked over to one of the armchairs and sat down, before flipping on the TV. They only had one channel, and right now, it was playing some sort of action movie.

The teen on the bed, pushed the girl on the bed, till she stirred awake. “Get your bitch ass out of bed, Sammy.” The male teen didn’t seem to care as he spoke in an uncaring tone.

“Huh?” A girl with long black hair finally sat up. Her dark eyes fell on Kazayuki and she quickly held the blanket up to her chest. “Oh, gosh. We fell asleep again. I am so sorry.”

Kazayuki wasn’t even looking in their direction, he a smirk played on his face. “Don’t worry about it. I was gone longer than expected.”

“Yeah, you spend more fucking time with him than your first born son.” The teen boy stood up as he picked up a beer can off the floor, not caring that he was in his birthday suit, walking around the apartment.

“Sorry, I wasn’t apart of your life, but that’s your mother’s fault, Kenji.” Kazayuki sipped at his beer.

“Fucking bitch.” The teenage boy, whose name was Kenji, snorted as he finished his beer and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a mobile phone. “Samantha, your roommates are wondering where you ran off to.”

The teenage girl on the bed grabbed a loose blanket and wrapped it around her body before taking a few steps towards Kenji, taking the phone he held. “Oh, gosh. I gotta shower quick.” She looked at the teenage boy and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for the belated birthday gift, Kenji!” As she turned around and gathered up what was her clothes on the floor and dashed to the bathroom.

Kenji picked up another mobile phone and looked through it. “Shit, the monster wants me to deliver.” He looked unimpressed as he moved back over to the bed and started dressing.

“You should stop dealing in drugs and look for a job soon.” Kazayuki looked towards Kenji as he put on an oversized muscle shirt that hung off his one shoulder and a pair of almost skin-tight black jeans. “You are almost sixteen years old, it’s about that time.”

“Fuck off, I’ll do what I want when I want.” Kenji looked over at Kazayuki. “You don’t control me, old man. Nor does the monster. She just doesn’t know how to sell my product without using it up herself.”

“I suggest you think of something if you are going to keep putting it in without wrapping it. Or, you’ll end up with little devils of yourself running around.” Kazayuki chuckled.

“I don’t wrap it. Besides, Samantha just turned seventeen, if she’s not on the pill it’s her fault.” Kenji snorted as he was busy putting his boots on. “I’m out of here.” The teenage boy grabbed a backpack that was sitting by the couch and slung it over one shoulder and headed out of the apartment.

Kazayuki sat there, finishing his beer before he heard the bathroom door open slightly and he turned to look at the girl peeking out the door. “He’s gone. He went off and won’t be back for a while.” The teenage girl, Samantha came out of the bathroom, wrapped up in just a towel.

“Oh, goodie.” She walked over to Kazayuki, placed her hands on his shoulders, and started kissing him with open mouth. “Your son is such an asshole. He used to be sweet to me before.” Kazayuki held a hand in her wet hair, looking at her with his red eyes.

“You know he’s with another, right?” Kazayuki raised a brow to her, as he let her climb onto his lap, facing him. “Then again, you wouldn’t be fucking his father if you didn’t know.”

Samantha giggled. “Oh, I know how your son is, he’s quite the player, probably one of the best guys to get laid by, and he’s only fifteen.” She had opened her towel and let it drop around her waist. “How about you give me my belated birthday gift too?” She chewed on her lower lip as her arms went around Kazayuki’s neck. Dropping his empty beer can to the floor, Kazayuki grabbed her hips and went for her neck, with kisses and nips. Samantha rolled her head back in a moan, as she ran a hand through Kazayuki’s black hair.


	33. Chapter 33

Ichirou got up out of bed and pulled his phone out of his side table to check the time. It was only 9:45 am on a Sunday. After the trial, he had come home late from the hospital and went to bed. He found out the next day that school was closed until the next week. A whole week off for everyone else, as Ichirou had to pay the price for that week off.

Mizuki kept what happened to Ichirou a secret from Yuriel and Eliza, but the newspaper didn’t. They never mentioned Ichirou, but they reported on everything that happened with Mr. Moshiia. He was going to hear about for a while he suspected. Eliza and Yuriel even questioned it as they never knew of Mr. Moshiia’s lifestyle, but he was sweet to all the kids in the school, especially after Kojima left.

Yomi had come by a few times with the kids for Eliza and Yuriel to play with, he looked in rough shape from just looking at his eyes. Ichirou wanted to ask how Niko was doing, but with Mizuki around, he wasn’t able to. All he knew was that Niko was staying at their place for the moment. Withdrawal symptoms had Niko needing to be watched and it was easier for the kids to hang out here.

Ichirou was back into his old habits, drinking blood packages, and playing video games. With Mizuki request that he drinks at least one bottle of water a day. He got out of bed, walked over his drawer, and slipped on a pair of sweat pants before he walked out of his room and headed to the kitchen. Mizuki was sitting at the dining table, reading the newspaper.

Grabbing a blood package from the fridge, Ichirou walked over to the dining table and looked at the paper. “What’s the big news today?”

“Oh, morning Ichirou.” Mizuki closed up the paper and folded it up. “Nothing really important. It’s the Sunday edition, so it just reviews what has happened all week.” He picked up his coffee cup and sips it for a second. “What are you doing out of bed? You could sleep in, you know?”

Ichirou shook his head. “I did. It’s nine in the morning.” He looked at Mizuki with a raised brow. “Why are you up? You went out last night.”

“Oh, I was just, I couldn’t sleep,” Mizuki spoke as if he was hiding something. In fact, Ichirou looked at what Mizuki was wearing now. He was wearing the clothes he was wearing last night still.

“You went out partying and haven’t slept because you came home this morning.” Ichirou shook his head and got up, drinking the rest of his blood package, walking to the kitchen to throw it out, before opening the fridge again and pulling out a water bottle. “I’m going to be in my room.”

Ichirou didn’t look back at Mizuki as he walked down the hallway and went back to his room. Turning on the TV and game system, Ichirou grabbed a controller and sat on the floor, leaning against his bed.

As he started his game, Yuriel came walking in and laid on the bed behind him. “Ichirou, let’s go out today. I want to go shopping at the mall.”

“You always want to go shopping. Ask Eliza.” Ichirou didn’t even look back at Yuriel as he was playing the game.

Yuriel whined. “I want to go shopping with you. Besides Eliza’s no fun now. She talks my head off.” He wrapped his arms around Ichirou’s neck. “Please, can we go? Spend time with your little brother.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He paused his game and sat up and turned to Yuriel. “Though, I’m not giving you my opinion. I’m not spending two hours of you trying on different clothes.”

“Yay! Let’s go.” Yuriel stood up from the bed and looked at Ichirou. “Well, first you get dress. I’ll be waiting.” He smiled brightly at Ichirou as he closed the bedroom for Ichirou.

Sighing, Ichirou had a smirk on his face. Yuriel was sure hyper, and he missed hanging out with the younger one too. He always annoyed Ichirou with nagging questions, but what could he expect from the nine-year-old. He got dressed up in a black t-shirt with a logo on it and a pair of jeans. He slipped on a zipper hoodie, leaving it open and sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He looked at himself in the mirror and put the hood up, smirking to himself. Grabbing his wallet from the side table, Ichirou grabbed the mobile phone and put it in his back pocket, before walking out of his room.

Yuriel was talking to Mizuki, cheerfully. When Mizuki saw Ichirou, he nodded his head. “Okay, you two can go out, but be back before supper. Kazayuki is coming over and is going to make supper for us.” He said with a bored tone in his voice. Yuriel skipped over to Ichirou and slipped on his shoes before the two of them left to catch the bus to the mall.

* * *

Arriving at the mall, Ichirou was practically dragged inside by the younger ones, and from there, Yuriel kept his arm looped around Ichirou’s, as Ichirou had his hands in his pockets. They were siblings, so it wasn’t awkward, though Ichirou could see a few looks their way. Yuriel, dressed in bright colorful clothing, a dress, no less and Ichirou, wearing black, dark clothing. They were an odd pair to be seen.

They walked to the first clothing store and Yuriel dragged Ichirou around, picking out a few shirts, some skirts, and a zipper hoodie. Ichirou just held on to the items, after he realized there was a clearance sale. No wonder Yuriel wanted to go to the mall. They would be here all day.

“Do you like this one or this one?” Yuriel was holding up two shirts, identical in style but opposite colors.

“I told you, don’t ask me. If you like it, buy it.” Ichirou rolled his eyes.

“I know, but I can only afford to get one, if I spend over my limit here, then that takes away the limit I have at the other stores,” Yuriel whined. “Please, green or orange.”

Ichirou looked at them and sighed. “I like the green one.” He said as he looked at the floor. That same bright almost neon green, the same color he was starting to fall in love with when it was on a certain someone. Niko. He wondered again how Niko was doing. He liked being friends with Niko and the color scheme Niko always had was strange, but when he wore green, his green eyes and light red hair would pop out more.

“Ichirou?” Yuriel was standing in front of him, waving his hand in front of his face. “Earth to Ichirou.” Ichirou blinked and looked down at Yuriel. “Oh good, you’re back. I thought I lost you there.”

“What are you talking about?” Ichirou raised a brow at Yuriel.

Yuriel giggled. “You were zoned out. You were staring at the green shirt with drool on your face.”

Ichirou brought the back of his hand up to his face but there was no drool, and Yuriel was now laughing at him. “Alright, you pulled one on me. You are getting the green one and we can go?”

Yuriel shook his head. “I’m getting the orange on now.” Ichirou rolled his eyes. Of course, whatever Ichirou was going to pick, Yuriel was picking the opposite one. Ichirou took what he was carrying up to the check out counter and Yuriel paid for everything. Ichirou grabbed the bag and Yuriel looped his arm around his arm again and they walked to the next store.

Ichirou wasn’t asked by Yuriel which one he liked best, because each time he picked up two of the same but different colors, one was always green and he looked at Ichirou and put the green one back. Ichirou did like the green shirt back at the other store, but he didn’t say anything else as they continued. He was going to make a mental note to buy that green shirt for Yuriel for his birthday that was coming up. He followed and held the clothes Yuriel was buying, colors were pink, yellow, and orange.

Ichirou looked over the rack of clothes, seeing a pair of yellow skinny jeans. “Yuriel, why not buy those?” He pulled out the jeans to show Yuriel.

“Ichirou. Those are pants. I don’t do pants.” Yuriel turned his back on Ichirou as he was browsing through the racks.

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. He thought he could get Yuriel to expand on his style. Sure enough, Ichirou didn’t have a style, but he found a pair of baggy crotch style pants, the same kind Niko wore, except not black, these were orange. “Yuriel?”

Turning around, Yuriel gave Ichirou a displeasing look. “Nope, those are ugly.” He turned his back to Ichirou.

“No, you are going to try these on with…” Ichirou looked around and seen a shirt that would be a bit large on Yuriel. “This.” Holding up a light neon green shirt. “Try it on. It’ll look good.” Ichirou didn’t know if it would, but he did know Niko had style and he could see Niko wearing this.

Yuriel rolled his eyes. “Fine. But after we are going to the smoothie shop and you are buying me a super smoothie.” Ichirou nodded his head. He didn’t care, he just wanted to see what Yuriel would look like in it with his loose curled blond hair and blue eyes. Yuriel walked over to the changing rooms and closed the door.

Ichirou waited till, Yuriel stepped out, wearing what Ichirou picked out. “Ichirou. Why do I feel like you are trying to turn me into a boy? You know I don’t like boy clothes.” He pouted at Ichirou.

“I’m not. I’m trying to expand your style.” Ichirou chuckled. “Just bear with me.” Ichirou put the clothes and the bag from the other store down on a chair and walked off to grab those yellow jeans and brought them back with him. Yuriel looked at Ichirou with a displeased look. “Girls wear pants too.” He pushed the pants into Yuriel’s hands and grabbed one of the frilly pink shirts Yuriel picked up already. “Try it.”

Yuriel stomped his foot and walked back into the change room. It seemed to take a little longer than expected, but Yuriel walked back out, looking at Ichirou. He was wearing the yellow jeans Ichirou wanted him to wear, but he was wearing the oversized green shirt Ichirou made him wear with other outfits. “Pink doesn’t go with these pants.” He threw the pink shirt at Ichirou to put back in his pile. “You’re bad at this, though.” Yuriel turned to look in the mirror and lifted the shirt as he looked at himself in the mirror standing side to side. “You really can’t tell and these are girl jeans.”

Ichirou gave Yuriel a questioning look. “Are you talking about… down there?” Ichirou’s eyes adverted to Yuriel’s crotch in the mirror. Yuriel’s face turned red. “Stop wearing dresses and skirts all the time. You can’t tell. Besides, you identify as a boy, so wearing pants isn’t going to affect that.”

Yuriel shook his head. “I’ve been identifying as a girl in public, I only identify as a boy at home.” He bit his lower lip. Ichirou got up and wrapped his arms around Yuriel’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, I should have told you before we went out.”

“Yuriel, I know it’s going to be really hard for me to look at you like a girl. You will always be my little brother. But, you are the one who gets to choose your gender.” Ichirou told him, looking into Yuriel’s eyes. “Buy the jeans and I’ll get you a super smoothie.”

Yuriel’s eyes brighten up as he walked back into the change room and got dressed by in the clothes he was wearing originally and they made their way to the checkout counter for Yuriel to purchase. Again, Ichirou was holding the bag of clothes, though two bags this time, as Yuriel hung off his arm. They walked over to the smoothie booth and stood in line.

As they waited for their queue in line, a girl came running up to them. “Kenji!” And she hugged Ichirou. Ichirou took a step back from the force of her hug.

“Ken-what? I’m not who you think I am.” Ichirou was trying to gently push the girl off of him. Though, the girl let go of Ichirou and looked at him. His hood had fallen off of his head, to reveal who he actually was.

“Oh my… I’m so sorry. You looked exactly like this guy I know.” She blushes in embarrassment as she looked beside Ichirou at Yuriel. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hug your boyfriend like that.”

Ichirou raised his brow. “Wait. I know you.” The long black hair, and dark eyes. “You had your birthday party at Kojima’s place, right? You are Sam?”

“Samantha. And yes, I did.” She smiled brightly as it clued in who this was. “You’re Mini Ka-yu. Oh wow. You do like exactly like him too, more so than Kenji. It’s like wow.”

“Who’s this Kenji guy you speak of?” Yuriel asked, holding on to Ichirou tighter. Ichirou was even looking at her like wanted her to answer the question.

Samantha blinked. “What? You don’t-”

“Samantha, come join us!” A group of girls hollered out to their friend.

“Oh, sorry. I got to go. Nice seeing you again, Mini Ka-yu.” And just like that, Samantha waved and left them. Left them both confused. A guy behind them told them it was there turn and Ichirou nodded his head, and walked up to the counter and ordered, Yuriel was still looking back at Samantha, not liking something about her.

Ichirou handed Yuriel his super smoothie and they went to sit on a bench. Yuriel was looking down at the cup in his hands and swinging his feet back and forth as they didn’t reach the floor. “Ichirou, who is she?”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “Some girl from high school. That’s all I know.” Ichirou had his hood back upon his head. “Why?”

“She was a bit too friendly. Like her scent was friendly, but when she saw you with your hood down, her scent changed, like the same way when mama and daddy used to go off to the bedroom kind of scent.” Yuriel looked at Ichirou. “Didn’t you notice it?”

Ichirou shook his head. “I didn’t notice it like that. Though, I felt it.”

“Felt it?” Yuriel looked confused at Ichirou, Ichirou smirked, a smirk that could match Kazayuki’s smirk that said he got laid. Yuriel gasped and slapped Ichirou on the chest. “You’re perverted.” They both laughed about it, and Yuriel took a sip of his smoothie before suggesting going to another store.

* * *

Kazayuki had come early to the condominium with bags of food, the food he would be making for supper. Eliza wanted to help Kazayuki in the kitchen, so she had cleaned up the kitchen for them. Yuriel was showing off the yellow jeans he bought with Ichirou at the mall, with a white spaghetti strap top. Everyone thought Yuriel looked good and was amazed that he was wearing pants.

After Eliza and Kazayuki made-up supper, everyone sat down to eat. Ichirou felt that it was only a few weeks ago they were sitting down like a normal family. He missed this, though knew it wouldn’t last. His father would have to go home and they would be back to the four of them. Yuriel off in his room, gazing at his clothes for all Ichirou knew. Eliza would be in her room, reading stories, and whatever else she did. Mizuki would be in the living watching TV or on his phone. And Ichirou would be in his bedroom, playing video games.

They were quietly eating their supper, only the sound of utensils scratching against the plates. Ichirou felt that maybe this was wrong, to let his father come and cook them supper, because there was no talking, not like it used to be. After the supper meal, Yuriel and Mizuki went about washing the dishes together. Eliza cuddled up to Kazayuki on the couch. Ichirou laid on the floor and watched whatever movie was on as Eliza talked to Kazayuki.

Once Mizuki was sitting in an armchair and Yuriel joined Kazayuki on the couch on the other side of him, Yuriel opened up his mouth. “Daddy, why can’t we go to your place? Like, have a sleepover.”

“Well, Yuriel, it just not possible where I live,” Kazayuki said, and Ichirou turned on his side to look at his father, looking hopeful. Kazayuki looked at Ichirou. “I live with a roommate and he doesn’t like kids. I don’t live with Junji, Kiyo, and Yutaka.” Ichirou frowned.

“Why do you live with someone who doesn’t like kids?” Eliza asked, trying to get more information out of Kazayuki.

“Well, it just happened. I wanted to stay away from the parties those guys throw, so I moved in with another person who was looking for someone to help pay rent.” Kazayuki sighed. “I wish I could have you guys over, but it’s just not possible.”

Ichirou turned back towards the TV and ignored the others talking, he hated this. His father was kicked out, he was here and he couldn’t even visit his father. Sure, he was growing up, but he missed having his father around. It was like his father was off living a different life without him around. Ichirou kind of wished he was small again, always hanging off his father and silent. They got each other, all Ichirou had to do was look at his father and his father knew what he wanted. He wished it was still like that.

Later that night, Kazayuki had left and Mizuki was outside on the phone. Ichirou was getting ready for bed, Eliza walked into his room as he took off his shirt. “I’m sorry, Ichirou.” She stood there, in the doorway. Ichirou had the door closed, but now it wasn’t.

“What is it?” Ichirou just spoke, without care for his tone. He looked at Eliza, who chewed on her lip.

“Can we sleep with you?” Eliza opened the door more, and Yuriel was standing there as well. Both of them ready for bed.

Ichirou sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Why?” He asked the first time ever, he never asked why they wanted to sleep with him and he was considering telling them to go back to their rooms.

“Ichirou.” Yuriel pushed Eliza to the side as he walked in. “We love daddy, but you were the closest to him. You were so quiet tonight, we all were, but you barely said a word since daddy showed up. I saw how much you wanted daddy to take us to his place, and when he said he couldn’t you shut down. You weren’t just quiet but you are being cold towards us too.”

“So, that’s why you want to sleep with me?” Ichirou looked at Yuriel, but Eliza walked in.

“You need love.” Eliza smiled. “You need our cuddles to make you realize how much we love you.”

Ichirou snorted. This was the most foolish thing he ever heard. “Fine.” He still couldn’t say no to them. Ichirou smirked. “Then get into bed.” He stepped back from them, undid his jeans, and stepped out of them, before grabbing a pair of sweats and putting them on over his boxer briefs. Eliza crawled in under the blankets and Yuriel shut off the light and crawled in after Ichirou was in bed. Thank the stars he had a big enough bed for them all. Eliza on his right and Yuriel on his left, they both had their heads resting against his shoulders, he had his arms wrapped around them. He smirked slightly and kissed the top of their heads and relaxed into the bed and let sleep take him still smirking.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Underage Drinking, Underage Sexual Activities

Ichirou turns fourteen…

It was his birthday, he was regretting this day. Why? Well, his father told him he would be busy, but he would make it up to him. The first birthday where his father wasn’t around for. He sometimes wished he could just leave and go live with his father. Then he would look at Mizuki and he started regretting having the thought of leaving.

Mizuki was having issues with drugs and drinking again. The drugs didn’t come out till the kids were out of the house, except Ichirou. Though the drinking was getting a bit out of control. Mizuki had slapped Eliza for forgetting to do the dishes one night. Mizuki regretted slapping Eliza instantly, especially when Ichirou was there when it happened and Mizuki was met with Ichirou’s fist. Ichirou thought Mizuki was going to kick him out at that time, but it never happened. Mizuki cried in his bedroom that night, feeling sorry for himself. Ichirou and Eliza had poured all the alcohol down the sink. They figured that would stop him, but it didn’t. Mizuki was buying and started stashing alcohol through the house, and especially kept some in his bedroom. Ichirou would just continue to pour out anything he found, of course, if the kids weren’t around, he’d have a few sips as he poured the bottle out.

Besides Mizuki having drinking problems now, Ichirou just hated his birthday this year. It was the summer break, a month without school. He would be in high school at the end of the month. He tried calling Leon but Leon’s sister, Mandy, told Ichirou he was at football camp. He called Dameian’s house, got Darius. He asked Darius if he had any plans for the night, and Darius told him he was going out with some friends. Ichirou asked to speak with Dameian then, but Darius informed him Dameian wasn’t around. He was spending the summer at the beach. So, both his friends were out of the city. He was just wanting anyone, anyone to celebrate his birthday with that wasn’t his family, just so he could forget it was his birthday.

Mizuki suggested inviting Yomi and the two kids over, but Ichirou said to not bother. He would have liked to ask about Niko, but he knew Mizuki wouldn’t say anything. Ichirou kind of stopped going to parties, the idea of having fun was in his mind, but after Mr. Moshiia, he felt he couldn’t enjoy a party.

It was just after supper, they had a late supper, but that didn’t matter. There was no cake because Mizuki burnt the cake he turned to make for Ichirou, but Ichirou said he didn’t want a cake. He decided he needed to get out, go for a walk. He started putting his shoes on, and Mizuki looked towards him over the couch.

“Where are you going? You know it’s dark out, right?”

“I know. I just need to get out. I’ve been inside the whole summer break. I just want to go for a walk.” Ichirou looked at him, as Mizuki was giving Ichirou the look that he shouldn’t go.

“Fine, a few times around the block, but don’t stay out too late.” Mizuki turned back towards the TV. Ichirou flipped him off silently, just raised his finger near his head as he opened the door and walked out of the condominium.

Ichirou wasn’t going to just walk around the block, no he needed to get out, he needed to walk. He just needed to think. What was more important than his birthday? His father toured once through his birthday, but Ichirou was with him and they still celebrated together, before the show. His father took the day off work a few times to spend time with Ichirou for his birthday. His father was always there.

Ichirou walked, he took roads he knew, then he just kept walking. He passed a few parks he remembered. A convenience store and a church. Though Ichirou never realized there was a church in the city, here it was. Ichirou continued after the church. Then Ichirou realized the street didn’t look familiar. He tried walking to a corner and looked for a street sign, but there wasn’t one. That was strange. He had to find a street sign. He tried walking back the way he came, but he didn’t recognize where he was or what street he took. And still no street sign. What was up with that?

Ichirou just looked in the sky, he realized where the tall buildings were in the city. That was downtown. If he continued that way he would make it to a street he knew. So heading in that direction, he walked two blocks before he heard someone calling a name.

“Kenji!”

Ichirou tried to dart his eyes where that name was being called.

“Kenji!”

Ichirou finally turned his head and seen two girls on their deck beside their house.

“Over here, Kenji!”

Did they think he was Kenji? “Sorry, I’m not this Kenji guy you are calling out for!” Ichirou called back, hopefully, that would stop them calling out to him. Because there was no one else on the street.

“Oh, sorry!”

Ichirou took a few steps before he realized they had a car in their driveway. Sure, asking strangers for a ride was a big no-no, but Ichirou could handle himself. What was the worse the girls could do to him? He wouldn’t hit a girl, but if he felt he was in danger, he wouldn’t hold back. He made his way to the house, and heard the girls in the backyard, laughing and talking. Ichirou took a deep breath, he was intruding, but he would ask for a ride or directions. Maybe they had a map that could use. Ichirou walked up the stairs and made his way to the back of the house, and there he saw the girls sitting and drinking in a hot tub.

“Hey, I’m actually lost. I’m sorry to intrude but could one of you drive me, or if you have a map, can I figure out where I am?” Ichirou tried to avert his eyes away from them. One of them gasped at Ichirou, covering herself up with a towel, the other climbed out of the tub.

“I can get you a map.” She said as she walked to the backdoor of the house. Ichirou just looked back to the street from the deck, not moving off the deck. He knew to be wary of strangers, but even he was a stranger to them. The girl came back out and walked closer to Ichirou, putting her foot on the first step and handed him a phone book. “Here. There is a map in the back of the book.”

Ichirou nodded his head and turned his face to the girl. He reached out for the book and got a good like at her. She had black hair and her green eyes remind him of someone, but who? “Thank you.” He opened the book to the back and saw the map. “Can you tell me what street I’m on?” He looked at her as she took another step up.

“Oh, sure, we are on the 44th street. Let me show.” Ichirou had the book open and she took another step but on the deck and looked down at the book and pointed. “We are here.” She smiled at him.

Ichirou looked down and realized he was far from home for sure. He must have entered this area and had been walking in circles. He sighed. At least he knew the direction to get himself back home, but he was sure Mizuki would have his head for being out this late. He didn’t even have his phone with him, it was still hiding in the drawer beside the door. “Thank you.” Ichirou closed the phone book and pass it back.

“You look oddly familiar.” She was looking at him, maybe a bit too close for comfort, even if she was still a good step away from him.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Ichirou smirked.

“You want to stay for a bit? We can call our cousin to come to pick you up and take you home, he’s being a driver for drunks tonight for a bunch of his friends. Someone is having a birthday.” She smiled, though she stopped smiling because Ichirou’s smirked and he looked sad. “What’s wrong? Was it something I said?”

“Sorry, it’s not your fault.” Ichirou shook his head. “Actually, as stupid as this sounds, it’s my birthday too, but my father couldn’t come and celebrate with me. That’s why I when for a walk and kind of got lost.” He didn’t know why he was telling a stranger. Maybe he just needed to vent.

“Oh, well, you come on down from there and join us in the hot tub. Have a few birthday drinks before you go on your way. As I said, I can call my cousin to come to pick you up, if you don’t want to walk home drunk.” She grabbed Ichirou’s arm and was almost pulling him off the deck. He should say no, he should get back home, but if he didn’t know where he was, Mizuki wouldn’t find him either. Besides, having a few drinks sounded really good to him.

“Alright, just a few drinks. Though, I have to watch you pour them.” Ichirou smirked as he walked down off the deck to the back patio.

“Oh, you make your drinks,” She pointed to a side table beside the hot tub. “You’re a big boy now, aren’t you?”

Ichirou snorted. “Yeah, high school.” He didn’t tell them his age, nor told them he was first year. He walked closer to the table and made himself a drink. “By the way, I’m Ichirou.” He winked at them.

The girl with the black hair and green eyes, smiled as she got back into the hot tub. “My name is Mia.” Mia looked to the girl, who hand put the towel down from her chest. She had brown hair with green eyes, and that when Ichirou realized they were twins. They looked similar, but they weren’t identical twins.

“My name is Tia… Yes, our parents named us to rhyme. Blame them, not us.” She laughed lightly. “So, are you getting in, or are you going to stand there and drink while we girls soak?” Tia had a snarky attitude about her, reminded him of someone, but then again he couldn’t place them with anyone he knew.

“Well, I might just stand. I didn’t bring my swimming trunks, because I didn’t know I was going swimming.” Ichirou smirked at her, as she laughed, same with her sister.

“Just strip. We are all adults here, kind of. It’s not like we haven’t seen a dick before.” Mia said, with a smile. “We will even look away so you can climb in without us gawking at you if you like.”

That sounded like a good idea, but Ichirou wasn’t ashamed of his body anymore. Within a few months, he got more defined abs and his arms and legs filled out with muscle, nothing too huge and well, his cock still looked the same to him, though, he didn’t know what the average should look like. “Alright, I’ll get in. I don’t care if you do gawk, it won’t be the last time.” He chuckled and they laughed with him as he took off his shirt, undid the button on his pants. He looked up at them, they were looking at Ichirou and he smirked, just letting the jeans fall of. He took his feet out of his shoes and pant legs without much effort on his part. He took off his socks and walked up the steps to get inside the hot tub.

“Awe, you are a little chicken. Just going to keep those briefs on.” Tia teased Ichirou.

Ichirou placed his drink cup down on the edge of the hot tub. “No, I figured I would come up here and take them off. Things do look bigger when you get a closer look.” The girls burst out laughing and Ichirou stood up on the step and pushed his underwear down and threw them over to his clothes. The laughter kind of died down, but it was the hungry look Ichirou got, nothing in disgust, so that was a good sign. He got into the water and sat down in one of the seats, as Mia made room for him.

Picking up his drink, Ichirou sipped at it and thought this was relaxing. Sitting in a hot tub with two sexy, beautiful girls and drinking. As he sat there, the girls got drunker and they were laughing at their stories and whatever comment Ichirou had made to make them laugh harder. Four drinks down and Ichirou was feeling pretty good about himself, though the girls were pouring his drinks when they realized his cup was empty, so they made them a bit stronger than Ichirou liked. Realizing his cup was empty, Ichirou decided he was done, he stood up in the hot tub and leaned over the edge to put his cup on the table.

“Damn, you got a nice bum,” Tia said, trying hard not to slur her words. Ichirou looked behind him and realized he had been naked this whole time. When did he undress? Was he naked in the hot tub the whole time? Ichirou’s mind had become fuzzy, he had forgotten.

“Well, I try.” Ichirou chuckled and turned back around, sliding back into the water.

“You know something.” Mia was now inching closer to him. Ichirou didn’t notice or really care that she moved close enough to put her hand on his thigh. “You are pretty sexy looking, Ichirou. You are so well-behaved for a man with two girls.” Tia had started coming closer to Ichirou, without his knowledge as he was looking at Mia.

“Ichirou, how would you like a birthday gift from us?” Tia whispered in his ear, turning his attention to her, realizing she was close to him.

“Well, it is my birthday. So if you ladies want to give me something, you can.” Ichirou looked between the twin. He tried to make a mental note that drinking in a hot tub wasn’t such a good idea, he felt more intoxicated than he ever felt. “Though, we barely know each other, so I doubt you will get me anything I really need.”

“Ichirou, you're naked with us. That’s enough to know you are a man and we are women.” Tia came closer and ran her tongue over his ear, and sucked on his earlobe. Ichirou shivered. He felt Mia’s hand on his thigh move up and took hold of his flaccid cock and started stroking him.

Ichirou’s eyes fluttered shut, his breathing became unsteady. He never touched himself nor did he ever remember anyone touching him like this. If Ichirou’s mind was clear, he would remember the incident, but his mind was clouded. He had his arms over the edge of the hot tub, and he was feeling good as Tia now was kissing his neck. Mia’s hand stopped a few moments later and he opened his dark red eyes.

“Shall we get you inside? You seem like you are about to fall asleep.” Mia giggled as she moved to stand up. Tia did the same but pulled Ichirou up with her. Ichirou was watching as Mia got out of the hot tub and Ichirou climbed out after her, followed by Tia.

Ichirou was lost for words, he felt the cool air of the night hit his skin and he started to realize he was being dragged by the hand by Mia and Tia was laughing behind him, gently pushing him. He wanted time to slow down so he could realize what was going on, but he was taken inside the house, through the kitchen, down a hallway, to a bedroom. The room looked like it didn’t even really belong to any of these girls. It was a plain room, with a queen-size bed, white blankets, and pillows. They stopped Ichirou at the foot of the bed and both girls were in front of him.

“What are we going to do with you?” Tia looked Ichirou up and down. Ichirou smirked. Mia giggled and dropped to her knees in front of him. He looked down and watched Mia take his large thick cock in her hand and was stroking him again. He liked this and put a hand on her head, petting her head as he was trying to even out his breathing. “You must not know what to do with that hammer of yours, you must surely be a virgin.” Tia lifted his head and they looked at each other for a moment, faces so close. Ichirou let his other hand reach up and cup Tia’s face, bring her closer, and planted his lips on her lips.

This started to clear up Ichirou’s mind, his senses were coming back to him, he could smell the chlorine of the water left on their bodies and the smell of arousal. This excited him more, he started to kiss Tia more lustfully, open-mouth kissing with tongue, Tia was caught by surprise and moaned against his lips. Till Ichirou was caught by surprise with a gasp and he pulled away from Tia and looked down at Mia who now had her mouth around the head of his cock. Oh, that felt good.

Tia pulled back, removed her bikini top before she was on her knees in front of Ichirou. Mia pulled back and smiled, looking up at Ichirou. “You have enough cock to please us both, but can you last long?” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders as he watched the two start to make out with each other in front of his cock, while both had their hands wrapped around his cock and were giving him short strokes. The sight of this was like it was from some kind of movie. Twins kissing each other.

Though, it didn’t last long till their mouths were on his cock. Sucking and licking up and down his shaft, before one of them took him fully in their mouth he felt the back of her throat with the tip of his cock. Ichirou licked his lips. Mia had stood up, let her bikini bottoms fall to the floor. Ichirou looked and bit his lip, he wanted to see more, he knew what he was taught in school, but he wanted to see it for himself. “Do you want to touch me?” Mia said, taking Ichirou’s hand and rubbing it against her pubic hair. Ichirou’s drunkard mind was screaming yes, but the words weren’t coming out of his mouth. Though, no words were needed as Mia turned sideways a bit, put her leg on the bed, and rubbed Ichirou’s hand in between her legs.

As she rubbed herself against his hand, she pushed one of Ichirou’s fingers inside of her, and Ichirou started feeling her inside, rubbing his finger against her, moving in and out slowly, she didn’t seem to mind what Ichirou was exploring as she held his hand there.

Tia pulled away from sucking Ichirou off, making Ichirou whimper, silently wanting her to continue. She grinned at him, her fangs appearing in her smile. “I’ve got something better for you.” She was topless and soon she was completely naked in front of Ichirou. “Sister, why not let him both touch us?” Tia crawled on the bed, laid her head against the pillows, and with her knees slightly bent, she opened her legs. Ichirou got a full view as she was touching herself. Mia moved away from Ichirou, letting his hand go as she climbed on the bed and laid close to Tia’s leg and she let her hand join Tia on Tia’s nether-region.

“Would you like a quick lesson on how to please us?” Mia smiled at Ichirou, but Ichirou didn’t have a reply, though that didn’t stop Mia from doing what she did next. Her face got close, then her tongue came out, and she licked Tia’s clit, making her moan in pleasure. Ichirou didn’t need any lessons, he felt he already knew this, he felt he just had to let his body take control and he would be doing everything.

Ichirou climbed on the bed between Tia’s legs and moved Mia’s head away, and her hand, as he replaced them with his tongue and hand. He wasted no time hitting the right spots. Curling his two fingers within her and letting his tongue flick her clit between sucks and nips to her folds and clit. He had Tia trembling in pleasure.

“S-stop, Ichirou.” Tia shuddered and pushed Ichirou’s head away. “Let me go first.” Ichirou blinked, he didn’t understand what she was saying. Though Mia helped Ichirou lay down on the bed, sideways and Tia was now stroking him, but straddling him, as Mia was kissing Ichirou’s with tongue and soft moans, his hand in her hair. Then, Ichirou felt warmth, warmth that wasn’t a mouth, and he pulled away from the kiss and looked down his body, seeing Tia lower herself in his cock with a wanton moan. He watched her for a moment as she moved up and down on him, take more of him in each time before she was fully sitting on him. He could feel her insides clamping and releasing around his cock.

Mia giggled at Ichirou’s expression. “Now we are going to have fun.” She moved over Ichirou’s face, Ichirou was face to face with her vagina. He knew what was being asked of him, as his hands reached and held her hips and he moved her closer, before licking and sucking her clit. Mia was facing Tia and Ichirou couldn’t see what was going on, but could hear the two girls moaning and kissing as Tia started grinding her hips on Ichirou’s. His hands reached up from Mia’s sides, all the way to her full breasts and he teased her nipples with his finger and thumb.

Ichirou was so lost in receiving pleasure, giving pleasure, and hearing pleasure, he didn’t realize he had dug his heels into the bed mattress and was trying to thrust up into Tia. Though his mind was more focused on his mouth actions, he realized Tia had now stopping her actions on him and letting him thrust in her. There was a build-up of pressure in himself, he wanted to keep going to the release that pressure.

“Oh, yeah… Make me cum on you.” Ichirou heard the words fall from Tia’s mouth as he kept going, even sucking a bit harder on Mia’s clit. Both girls moaned as Ichirou felt Tia put all her weight on him, her insides squeezing around him. Mia climbed off of Ichirou’s face and he wiped his mouth with his arm, panting himself. Tia looked at Ichirou and laid her body down against his. “You know what you’re doing, just like a real man.” She grinned at him, before capturing Ichirou’s lips in a heated kiss.

“My turn.” Mia was heard with a whine in her voice. Their kiss was short-lived as Tia got off of Ichirou and laid on the bed with her head on the pillow, curled on her side. Ichirou moved to sit up and Mia laid beside Tia, her legs opened. “Show me what you can really do.” Ichirou got the hint.

Kneeling between her legs, Ichirou lifted her hips slightly off the bed. He was looking down at his cock and her opening, he didn’t think it was going to fit. He was going to try anyway as he lined his cock up to her, and started pushing in slowly. Mia moaned out loud, arching her back off the bed as Ichirou pushing in farther, till he was fully inside. He felt something hard against the head of his cock, though he pushed through it and now it was trying close around him. He shifted his hips, he realized he probably shouldn’t push in fully.

“Oh, fuck me.” Mia moaned and Ichirou smirked. Oh, he was going to fuck her, and he was going to enjoy doing it. On his knees sitting on his heels, he started slow, getting himself built up. Mia and Tia were back to kissing each other and Tia’s hand was reaching behind herself and low on her body, giving Ichirou a view of her fingering herself. He moved his hips against Mia’s hips, rubbing himself against her as he was thrusting. His movements slow and steady at first. Mia was moaning out in pleasure. Ichirou was feeling the pressure for the second time that night, this time he was sure he would be able to release. He wanted to so bad.

Ichirou panted as he moved his hips harder. He was finally getting into a rhythm, moving his hips into Mia’s body, watching his cock slide out and inside again. He wasn’t paying any attention to Mia and Tia making out, just listened to their moans. He chewed on his lower lip and closed his eyes. The feeling of the moist warmth around him, the pace of his thrusts, he was getting close. The build-up of pressure in his lower region. His breathing became heavier, yes, he was close. Oh, so close.

“Hey, where are you two?” Came a voice, calling out to the twins and coming closer. Ichirou had no time to react as he was practically pushed off the bed by Mia. The two girls scampered around, fixing back into their swimsuits. Ichirou was stunned, what was he going to do? Well, the only thing he could do. There was a throw blanket on the end of the bed and wrap it around his waist as someone walked into the room.

It was a tall, muscular built man with brown hair and eyes of green that matched the color of the twins. It was Kojima standing there, not looking too impressed at the sight before him. “Really?” He asked as his tone was filled with anger.

“Sorry, cousin. We didn’t know you would be coming over tonight.” Tia spoke, looking as sweet as she could given the situation. Ichirou was looking at Kojima and back at the twins. Wait, did they just call him their cousin? That would mean they were related, and Ichirou realized what was going on. He has seen the picture years ago, but he saw a young Kojima in a family picture with twins that were older than him. That’s when Ichirou figured their principal was Kojima’s father, but Ichirou was wrong. No, the principal was Kojima’s uncle, and not to mention, he was the man that had taken advantage of Ichirou, raped him only a few months ago right in front of his friend, Niko. No, this couldn’t be happening.

“You realize who you are screwing around with?” Kojima walked more in the room, over towering the two girls. “You realize he is just a thirteen-“

“Fourteen,” Ichirou mumbled.

“-year old boy? You both could be charged and sent to jail, just like your father. Is that what you two want?” Kojima was angry, his anger was pouring into the room, mixing with the scent of arousal that Ichirou was smelling before. If they kept this up the scent of the twins being upset and guilty and Kojima’s anger would take over the room. Ichirou didn’t want to be in this room right now and tried to walk behind the girls and make his way to the door.

“We didn’t know how old he was? He looks older and old enough to fuck us. He’s actually really good with his tongue.” Mia spoke with her hands on her hips.

Tia walked up to Kojima and poked him in the chest. “Besides, it's not our fault you’re a virgin still.” Ichirou could see Kojima’s face turn red. They must not know, then again, Ichirou didn’t know anything about Kojima, besides what happened at the trial.

“You two don’t know anything about me,” Kojima grumbled. “But this isn’t about me. It's about you two fucking an underage kid.” Kojima’s anger never ceased and Ichirou was just making it out of the room when he was slammed against the wall by Kojima. Ichirou flinched but he stared hard at the older teenager. “And you… what were you thinking?”

Ichirou contemplated telling Kojima that it wasn’t his idea, but he knew that would make the girls look bad. He didn’t have an excuse for him. Ichirou just shrugged his shoulders. That seemed to piss Kojima off more, or rather redirect his anger at Ichirou.

“Get dressed. I’m taking you home.” Kojima released Ichirou and looking back at the twins. “You two should know better. Your dad’s in prison because he was stupid for having sex with a minor.”

Tia started to laugh. “You really believe that shit is true? You lived with the man alone for almost eleven years and not once did he touch you. Some kid was probably mad at him for giving them detention and made that whole shit up. The kid is probably laughing their ass off for sending him to prison.”

Her words stung Ichirou, hard. He wasn’t laughing his ass off, neither was Kojima. His hand turned into a fist at his side, while the other one had a grip on the blanket around his waist. He was fuming, he wanted to yell at them that he was that kid, he wanted to tell them what their father did to him, that their father almost ruin his ability to walk, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked out of the room, out to the backyard, where he picked up his clothes and let the blanket drop from his waist as he dressed. He didn’t realize Kojima had followed him until the other touched his shoulder. This made Ichirou jump and turn around as his fist collided with Kojima’s face.

“Fuck!” Kojima took a few steps back, holding his nose. “Get in my truck. It's out front.” He turned around to go back inside, as blood dripped from behind his hand.

Ichirou’s fist tingled, it felt great. He looked at his fist and smirked. He felt bad that he hit Kojima, but he felt good to punch something. Finished putting his shoes on, he walked back to the front of the house to Kojima’s truck and got inside. The first and last time he was in this truck was the night of the trial, and Niko sat with them. Niko. He was going to ask Kojima how Niko was doing.

When Kojima climbed in the truck, he had tissue sticking out of his nostrils. He looked at Ichirou and sighed. “I don’t want to know how you ended up with them, but just stay away from them.” He gave Ichirou a warning look. “And I deserved this.” He pointed to his nose.

Damn rights he did. Ichirou was no longer hard, but he was feeling an empty, unsatisfied pain in his groin area. Though, punching Kojima because he spooked him was the best payback in this situation. He wore a smirk on his face, as Kojima pulled away.

Ichirou had to tell Kojima where he lived, but that was all the words spoken between them. They pulled up to the building and Kojima turned to Ichirou. “Look man, I’m sor-“

“How’s Niko doing?” Ichirou stopped Kojima from finishing his apology. He didn’t want to hear it.

“Ah, Niko is doing great. He’s living with me right now.” Kojima sighed. “You should come to the house, sometime. Your dad’s friend, Junji helped with the renovations, and it's completely different now.”

“I thought we weren’t buddies?” Ichirou gave him a look.

“We aren’t, but Niko misses you. He wants to know how you are doing too. Though no one knows how to get a hold of you, except Niko and well, he won’t call you.” Kojima told Ichirou, looking out the windshield.

Ichirou nodded his head. Mizuki was the reason why Niko didn’t call him. “Well, thanks for the ride.” And he started getting out of the truck.

“Come by on Saturday, we are throwing a house warming party for Niko and them,” Kojima said, and Ichirou stood outside the truck. Ichirou didn’t know if he wanted to go to a party, he missed them, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go. He just nodded his head as he shut the truck’s door and turned to head inside. Kojima’s red little truck took off from the curve and down the street. Ichirou sighed, looking up at the building. He was going to be in so much trouble from Mizuki, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be let out again.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Underage Drinking, Drug Use Implied

Ichirou had woken up the next morning, remembering the night before. Having gone for a walk, he got lost and asked for directions from two girls, they ended up being twins and Kojima’s cousins, no less. He remembered getting into bed with them, their suggestion, but Kojima had come and put an end to their activities. Ichirou was still feeling the effects of not having his release, but it was dull now. He had come home, Mizuki was still up and he was upset that Ichirou hadn’t listened to him. Ichirou told him he wasn’t just some kid who didn’t know the dangers and told Mizuki he was going to bed. He had gone straight to bed, and Ichirou was regretting that now. He could smell chlorine on his body and something else he didn’t even want to think about.

Getting up out of bed, Ichirou slipped on a pair of sweats, grabbed clean underwear, and went to the washroom. He needed to have a shower. Turning the water on, Ichirou stepped in and grabbed the shower gel wash, and started washing his body, lathering up the soap from his head down.

The lower he went, he brushed his hand against his lower region and caught himself in a groan. It was sensitive to touch and his cock twitched for the attention as he washed. He wrapped his hand around his aching need and gave it a few slow strokes. Ichirou closed his eyes, thinking of the twins last night, letting out a shaking breath. He wanted this pleasure, he wanted to feel close to release, as he rested his other hand against the shower tile. The water washing over Ichirou’s body, he was getting close as he felt his cock harden completely in his hand.

“Ichirou, get out here!”

“Shit,” Ichirou cursed under his breath and stopped his action, being scared from pleasing himself. He felt like he was just caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Well, he shouldn’t be doing this in the shower, but damn, he wanted to be pleased, feel pleasured. He turned the water off, as he stepped out of the shower., and started drying himself off. He cursed to himself, he could smell his arousal in this small room. He couldn’t step out with this scent. He looked at the bathroom cupboard. He remembered seeing that spray bottle in there, the same one that made scents somehow vanish. Ichirou sprayed the room, the scent of him trying to please himself disappearing completely, at least to himself.

Putting on his boxer briefs, they weren’t going to hide the fact he was still slightly hard. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom. “Ichirou, get dressed. Daddy is here.” Yuriel said as he dashed past Ichirou towards the living room.

Ichirou let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and made his way to his room to change. Wearing his usual jeans and a black t-shirt with a skull print on it, he made his way to the living room where Kazayuki was sitting on the couch with Eliza and Yuriel, chatting. Ichirou turned to walk into the kitchen area and pulled out a blood package from the fridge.

“Hey, Ichirou,” Kazayuki had stopped his conversation with the younger kids. “I feel bad about not coming over for your birthday, but I wanted to know if you wanted to come to spend the weekend with me.”

Ichirou remembered how angry he was at his father. He scowled. “Doesn’t your roommate hate children?” He still remembered how he couldn’t go over before, because of his father’s roommate.

“Actually, that was why I was busy yesterday.” Kazayuki sighed. “I was moving him out.” He looked at Ichirou with a smirk on his face. “Now, it means I can have you guys over whenever, as long as Mizuki allows it. But you are my son, Ichirou, and if you will, I’d like to spend the weekend with you. Just you and I.”

Ichirou looked at his father’s red eyes. He could see the sympathy in his eyes. Ichirou’s dark red eyes showed the anger they held for his father’s actions. Neither of their faces showed the emotions they were displaying for each other. Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Fine. I guess I’ll go pack my backpack.” He threw the blood package in the garbage.

Yuriel looked up at Kazayuki as Ichirou walked back to his bedroom. “When can I come?”

Kazayuki looked at Mizuki, who had just come in from the patio. “Well, that you would have to ask your mama about.”

Mizuki looked at Kazayuki. “Well, not this weekend, but I’m sure we can figure something out.” He smiled slightly.

Yuriel nodded his head, as Ichirou walked back into the living room area. “Alright, I’m packed.” He looked at Mizuki. “You mind if I take my portion of blood packages?” Mizuki nodded his head and walked over to the fridge, reaching for a cooler on top of the fridge.

“Take what you want. I have to go out later and pick more up.” Mizuki handed the cooler to Ichirou. “It’s getting worse. They are dropping the amount of blood they give to a family. You are going to have to start lowering the amount you drink, Ichirou. You have to remember Yuriel is drinking too.”

Yuriel stuck his tongue out. “I hate drinking blood. Can’t I find a substitute? Like drinking from you, mama?”

Mizuki shook his head. “You can’t drink my blood, and even if you did, I would have to drink more than my share to keep us both fed.”

Ichirou had finished putting the blood packages he would need for the weekend. “Why don’t I? I drink way more than my fair share of blood.” He asked though Mizuki shook his head.

“Ichirou, there is a difference. The only person who could feed Yuriel is me because I am his mother. Mother’s blood won’t poison him. He’s too young to drink blood from anyone but me or a human.” Mizuki informed him of the reason most young vampires drink blood from their mother’s arm.

“It was just a thought.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders as he turned around. “Well, I’m ready.” He looked at Kazayuki, who nodded his head and gave a hug and a kiss on the head to Eliza and Yuriel.

“Now, you both behave for mama while Ichirou is away.” Kazayuki chuckled. Both of the kids laughed and giggled, as Kazayuki tickled them for a second. Ichirou made his way to the door, putting on his shoes as Eliza and Yuriel came up and each hugged him before left with his father.

* * *

The ride on the motorcycle was taken to what Ichirou could describe as a trashy neighborhood. He got off the bike as his father had to put the motorcycle into a small garage and lock it up. The neighborhood must be rough if his father had to lock up his bike. Ichirou looked at the building, tall red brick, rusted steel step staircase up the side of the building.

Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou. “Come on, I’m on the second floor.” He put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders and walked to the steel steps, going first. Ichirou followed behind, not feeling exactly safe walking up. Kazayuki opened the door that led to the second-floor hallway. They walked down the hallway with wallpaper falling or ripped off the walls and carpet that was old and worn with stains that Ichirou didn’t even want to know how they got there.

Kazayuki stopped at a door with a missing two and upside down six. The outline of the missing two was the only way Ichirou knew what the number of the apartment was. His father unlocked the door and stepped in, turning on the single light that lit up the whole studio suite. Ichirou stepped in and closed the door. He saw to the left a kitchen area, then in the far left corner, a sofa. Then against the red brick wall between two windows, a TV on top of a dresser. Then in the far right corner two armchairs. There was a door to the right of Ichirou, that he figured was the bathroom at least. And in the center of this area was a couch facing the TV. Small living space that Ichirou wondered how his father had a roommate here.

“Well, this is the home sweet home for me.” Kazayuki turned to Ichirou with a smirk on his face. “And it’ll be your home for the next few days.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “I know you have the money, but why are you living in a shit hole like this, father?” He scowled as he walked over to the couch and threw his bag on it, as he turned to watch his father open the fridge door, only for Ichirou to see all the beer cans inside, as Kazayuki was placing all of Ichirou’s blood packages on the top shelf, inside.

“Well, I decided that I didn’t want to live with Junji and Kiyo. I kind of wanted my own space from them. Though, Yutaka and his girl are living there.” Kazayuki was telling Ichirou. “Besides, this place is cheap. And the fourth bedroom at their place holds our equipment, so me moving in would mean finding another place to store our stuff.”

Ichirou shook his head. He remembered that house and they had their equipment downstairs when he lived there. It was just difficult moving it from the basement up the stairs. His father could have easily lived in the basement, but his father probably had his reason for staying in a dump like this.

“I think you need to find a different place. No way in hell would Mizuki allow you to bring Eliza and Yuriel here.” Ichirou knew Mizuki would flip out. He just couldn’t believe his father was living here. It had to be a joke, right?

“I know, but he doesn’t have to know.” Kazayuki chuckled, closing the fridge and pulling out his mobile phone. “I’m going to order a pizza. You good with that?” Ichirou just nodded his head as his father started calling.

A knock on the door had Ichirou looking at the door. “Could you answer that, please,” Kazayuki said as he was answering and talking to the pizza place he called.

Ichirou sighed as he walked over to the door, opened it up to see a slender teenage boy standing there only a head taller than Ichirou, just like his father. He was wearing black shades on his face with unruly auburn hair and a displeased scowl on his lips. He had a leather biker jacket on and was wearing jeans. He held in his hand a large envelope and pulled out a plastic bag with large weed nuggets from inside his jacket.

“I see he brought the baby bitch over.” The teenage boy, who seemed more like a man with a gentle sweet-sounding voice, had a displeasing tone towards Ichirou. “This is for Kazayuki, give it to him. And he owes me.” Everything he had was handed to Ichirou was a shove to his chest.

Ichirou narrowed his eyes and was about to drop everything and attack, but Kazayuki came up to the door and placed a hand on Ichirou’s shoulder, squeezing it hard. “Thanks, I’ll get you back soon,” Kazayuki said, before shutting the door and locking the deadbolt.

“What the fuck? He just called me a bitch and you stopped me? I should beat the shit out of him.” Ichirou glared at his father, as Kazayuki was standing between the door and Ichirou. Ichirou rubbed his shoulder as he thrusts the objects he was given to Kazayuki.

Kazayuki shook his head. “It's not the time or the place to be fighting him.” He gave Ichirou a look that told Ichirou to back down. “He was my roommate, just so you know.”

Yeah, the roommate that hated kids. Ichirou remembered, as he rolled his eyes and walked away. He decided to make himself comfortable on the couch facing the TV. “Just so you know, I’m going out tomorrow night. Kojima’s having a party and Niko wants to see me, so I’m going.”

Kazayuki walked over to the one armchair that was beside the couch and sort of face the TV. “That’s fine. I’m not going to stop you.” He flipped on the TV. “Though like I said, I want us to hang out this weekend, but you need a social life too.”

Ichirou looked towards Kazayuki. “What is there to do here? Besides, sitting and watching TV.”

“Lots to do, anything you want to do. I’ve been away from you for quite some time and I missed your birthday yesterday, so I am at your mercy to make my son happy.” Kazayuki smirked. “I’ve lost touch with you and I’m sorry. I figured if you stayed with Mizuki, everything would work out, but it is taking a toll on our relationship as father and son. For that, I am sorry.”

Ichirou leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and hands together. “Father, I need you around, more than you’d ever understand. Mizuki is nothing but a drugged-out alcoholic, most weekends. The drug habit isn’t as bad, he maybe has them once a month, but the drinking.” Ichirou sighed. “It's becoming almost a daily thing now.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kazayuki looked with concern at Ichirou. “I would remove you from that place, but I think you are needed there for other kids. I hate to say this, but living with me would be no different. I drink beer daily and I smoke pot daily.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Weed isn’t as bad as the cocaine Mizuki gets into. Plus, you don’t drink the hard shit that Mizuki drinks. He stashes it all over the house and anything we do find a bottle, we dump it out.” He leans back into the couch. “He’s hit Eliza, once. Since then we made it our mission to dump the alcohol out when we find it and he’s not home.”

“Hmm, I’m guessing he’s getting short on funds then. He’s trying to come after me for child support. His band has taken another hiatus.” Kazayuki got up and walked over to the counter where he had set everything down on and grabbed the brown envelope. He walked to the fridge and pulled out two beers and came back over to the armchair he was sitting in before. He handed one can to Ichirou, and placed the envelope on his lap. Ichirou cracked opened the beer he was given and his father did the same, and they clanked their cans together before they took their first sip.

Ichirou licked his lips. The beer was fine, but it was bitter tasting. He would rather drink rum, but he didn’t say anything. Being fourteen and handed a beer, he wasn’t complaining. He watched as his father opened the envelope with one hand, the other hand holding his beer, and pulled out a few papers and started reading it.

“...the DNA is not a match to the father in the subject…” Kazayuki muttered out these words as he was reading the paper. He kept reading and it made Ichirou want to know more about what his father was reading. “… infant Yuriel is the child of Mizuki and…” Kazayuki let out a growl and set the papers down on his lap.

“What is it?” Ichirou swallowed, he wasn’t sure he should ask, seeing as how his father became angry and was crushing down his can of beer.

“Mizuki’s trying to get child support out of me for Yuriel,” Kazayuki repeated what he already told Ichirou. “I wasn’t there the whole time at the hospital with Mizuki and Yuriel, so Mizuki had a DNA testing done on Yuriel. I never knew Mizuki agreed to it, but it is supposedly done at the hospital before they make up the birth certificates. Also, with Yuriel being two genders, they wanted to know. So I did give my blood for the testing to see if Yuriel’s appearance was from my bloodline. It wasn’t, but it was from Mizuki’s. I didn’t know about the DNA testing though.”

“So, you had someone from the hospital give you the records?” Ichirou questioned, he could tell his father was hiding something, but he didn’t think it was all because of Yuriel.

“No, I have no access to them. My ex-roommate that you met did have a way to gain access to that information though.” Kazayuki picked up the papers from his lap and walked back over to the kitchen area with his empty can and placed the papers on the counter, before grabbing another beer out of the fridge.

Ichirou was understanding now, Mizuki had cheated on his father when they were dating before Mizuki told him he was pregnant. Mizuki always knew something was different about Mizuki, but Ichirou didn’t know what it was. He was young, he sensed things differently. Though growing older, he realized his senses weren’t as strong as they once were, but his senses were still stronger than other vampires.

“I feared this would be the result. Mizuki knows about it but kept it from me. Yuriel has no features of mine, that was why I had a feeling. I knew Yuriel was closer to Mizuki, but even with the parenting bond, I had no connection with Yuriel, as I have with you. I figured it was because Yuriel was closer to Mizuki. Though, recently I learned every parent has a connection with their child even if they are apart or the child is closer to the other parent. It’s hard to describe it but if you know what you are looking for, you just know.”

Kazayuki made his way back over to Ichirou, and instead of sitting in the armchair, he sat beside Ichirou. Ichirou looked at his father and looked into his red eyes, Ichirou knew the connection they had. “You are telling me, Yuriel isn’t my half brother? Then I am just a child of yours, living with Mizuki’s adopted daughter and a child he had with another?” Ichirou asked to which his father nodded his head. Ichirou looked at the floor. He didn’t know how he should feel about this. Sure, he was close to both Eliza and Yuriel, but finding out he wasn’t even Yuriel’s half brother hurt him.

Sighing, Ichirou downed his beer and crushed the can in his hand. “What are you going to do about this?” He asked his father.

Kazayuki shrugged his shoulders. “I have to go to court with Mizuki fighting me for child support, and once I bring this up, who knows what will happen. You are in his care, temporarily. The courts know this and know I can remove you from the place at any time as Mizuki said he kicked me out, not you. They were fine with that, as long as I paid for your housing with Mizuki, which I do. Now, Mizuki wants child support for Yuriel. Though Yuriel’s father is left blank on his birth certificate, we both have to show evidence that I am Yuriel’s father for that to happen. I agreed to DNA testing, but Mizuki refused. Now, that I have the evidence that I am not Yuriel’s father.”

“So, you pay for me to live there?” Ichirou questioned. He kind of felt bad for his father now. He was living with the three of them with no relations to them. Even though Ichirou thought of Eliza and Yuriel as his siblings. That might not change but now Ichirou was wondering how this would change if he told them.

“Yes, and by what you told me, he is using that money for other things. Do you even get an allowance still?” Kazayuki asked, His arms over the back of the couch, beer can in one hand.

Ichirou wanted to, though he knew he was older so he shouldn’t have the need, he did it anyway, curling up against Kazayuki’s side. “We get ten dollars each, and the other kids save up their money, as I have the money you give me. Though, I feel like I should give them half of the money Mizuki gives me to them now. That way I’m not taking anything from them.”

Kazayuki smirked, placing his one arm around Ichirou. “You care about them and if that’s what you want to do, I’m not going to stop you.” He gave a soft chuckle as there was a knock on the door. “Pizza’s here. I’ll pay and you get us more beer. Then I’ll roll us some joints for tonight.” He smirked and gave Ichirou a wink.

Ichirou smirked back and got up off the couch. This was how his first night with his father was going to be, eating pizza, drinking beer, and smoking weed. Not a bad start to a night. Ichirou was going to enjoy himself with his father, hanging out and watching whatever came up on the TV.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sexual Content, Underage Drinking, Drug Use

On the back of his father’s motorcycle, Ichirou pulled up to the familiar house, the house he was last seen at. A shiver ran down his back at the memory, and he tried to push it away. He wasn’t going to relive that experience again. The nightmares had stopped, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t resurface again. His father patted his shoulder after he got off the bike. He turned to see his father give him a soft smile. “Call me when you want to be picked up. Just don’t stay out all night, or I will come and get you.” His father threatened with a tease.

Ichirou smirked. “I’m sure I don’t want to spend a night at this place. I’ll call you.” He took out his phone from his back pocket to show his father he still had the mobile phone he had given him. Kazayuki nodded his head and revved up his motorcycle before taking off. Ichirou sighed, before he turned around, returned his phone to his back pocket, and walked towards the house. He knocked on the front door, and Leon was the one to answer the door.

“Hey, come on in!” Leon grinned so big in excitement. “Hey guys, Mini Ka-yu is here!” He announced Ichirou’s arrival. There were a few party guests already, though none of them Ichirou recognized. He looked at Leon. 

“What are you doing here so early?” Ichirou smirked at his friend. 

“Well, you see, I am the doorman for the party. I allow guests in and I can kick anyone out.” Leon chuckled, before taking a sip of whatever was in his plastic cup already. “Also, I get to announce all the important people that arrive.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I’m not that important to need an announcement.” He chuckled a bit. 

“I guess, but you are important to the owner of the house and those that live here.” Leon patted his back. “They're in the kitchen, I believe.” Another knock came on the door. “I gotta get this.” 

Ichirou nodded his head as he made his way through the house. The sitting/dancing area was still the same, even the living room was still the same and as he made his way into the kitchen, Ichirou realized what used to be the dining area, the wall had been taken down to make easy access into the dining area now. The whole main floor was now opened up completely as you couldn’t get into the dining area before without going through the sitting area.

“Mini Ka-yu!” Ichirou turned his head in the direction of the voice calling out to him and it was Hitsu. Big tall Vampire that Ichirou remember Niko used to live with. “Welcome to our house warming party!”

Ichirou raised a brow. “You guys all moved in here now?”

“Most of us. Niko, Lyle, and I did and three others. You should see the place upstairs now. Completely redone.” Hitsu had a drink in his hand as well as he took a sip. “Get yourself a beer and I’ll give you the grand tour.” He pointed over to the cooler on the floor. Always the same, Ichirou guessed. Beer for starters till someone, Kojima, was serving the harder liquor. Ichirou walked over and grabbed himself a beer as he rejoined Hitsu and the man showed him around. 

“So, this is the kitchen, with the dining room now fully opened.” Hitsu started with the room they were in. Ichirou didn’t need this in-depth of a tour, but Hitsu looked like he had one too many already and he was proud to show it off. “The door right there, under the staircase leads to the basement. No one and I mean no one is allowed to go down there. One of our roommates lives down there and he paid for the renovations in the basement. Kojima doesn’t care as he pays in full the amount he owes for bills and rent.”

They walked into the living room and Hitsu explained how they got new leather furniture and a new bigger size TV, which was playing another sporting event on it and only three guests were sitting and watching the game. Next was the entranceway, to which Ichirou had nodded his head at Leon, as they went into the next room. The sitting room had couches all around the walls. The open area was, of course, for dancing. There were only six others in the room, playing with a brand new stereo system, and picking out music. 

Hitsu gently pushed Ichirou out of the room and directed him to the staircase. “This you have to see. We made the rooms bigger and even took down some walls.” He knew of Ichirou’s experience here, both him and Lyle, but they didn’t seem bothered to be living in this house now, so it had to be some good changes. 

Up the stairs. The railing from the staircase ran to the right, ending at a wall. That was the first bedroom and it was brought out closer to the stairs than Ichirou remembered. “That’s Lyle’s room.” Hitsu chuckled as he banged on Lyle’s door. “Time to party, you horn dog.” So the first door on the right was Lyle’s, that would mean the first door on the left was the bathroom. Then Hitsu gestured to the second door on the right. “This here is my room. Have a look.”

Ichirou was a bit taken back by the gesture, but he opened the door and looked inside from the doorway. The room was extended out, to give more room space. Hitsu’s room was clean, so Ichirou was able to tell where the old room’s wall ended by just the ceiling brace broad on the ceiling. Two dressers and a bed would have filled this room comfortably, but now everything was spaced out better by just the extra five feet. He nodded his head in approval and closed the door.

“Nice makes it easier to store your shit now.” Ichirou chuckled, taking a sip of beer.

“You should see Lyle’s room now. Since he’s not sharing with me, I don’t know what is clean and what is dirty. His room is a disaster now.” Hitsu laughed and pointed to the second door on the left. It had a ‘KEEP OUT’ sign on it. “That’s Kojima’s room, of course. It’s been extended.”

Now, Ichirou was having a real good look at the second floor. Kojima’s room was extended, into what was the master bedroom, but now there was no master bedroom. The wall that had the door to the master bedroom was taken down and now it was set up as a gaming area. With its own TV and gaming consoles. As well as a sectional couch and a rocking armchair. Four people were already making themselves comfortable in playing the games, and Ichirou noticed Ryoji and Hayden there. He frowned slightly, he knew he should be leaving now.

“Don’t worry about it.” Hitsu patted Ichirou on the shoulder. “Ryoji lives here now, but Kojima says he has control of who can be here or not, not Ryoji.” Ichirou nodded his head, and Hitsu pulled Ichirou over to the third door. “This is Niko’s room and beside Niko’s room is Ryoji’s room, Then the second bathroom and what was once an office is Hayden’s room.” Hitsu quickly pointed out the rooms before knocking on Niko’s room. “Hey, you have a guest here to see you.” Hitsu laughed as he walked away, leaving Ichirou there with the eyes of Ryoji, now looking in his direction. Though once the door opened, Ryoji looked away and Niko was standing there. 

Wearing plastic hair extensions sticking out in different directions, blue and pink in color. Ichirou realizes Niko was wearing fewer clothes than usual. Tiny blue shorts, black body tape over his nipples, a bunch of colorful arms and leg accessories, and thick eye makeup, with a new piercing, that Ichirou never seen before. Nose bridge piercing, two cheek piercings, and a septum piercing. He looked more like a raver now than Ichirou remembered.

“Ichirou, I’m so glad you came!” Niko basically jumped to hug him and Ichirou wrapped his arms around Niko, to steady himself before falling over. “Oh, come in.” Niko grabbed his hand, the one without the beer in it, and pulled him into his room. The room was filled with bright neon green furry carpet, a bed with neon rainbow fluffy blankets, and colorful fluffy and furry decorations. The only thing that wasn’t fluffy or furry was the ceiling. “So, do you like it?”

“Something I wouldn’t agree with, but it’s you and it suits you well, Niko.” Ichirou turned around to see Niko standing by the open door. 

“Thank you.” Niko gave him a sweet smile. “I was just getting ready. Do you like what I’m wearing?” He put his hands on hips and extended out a leg to Ichirou, showing that he was wearing platform shoes that were pink in color.

Ichirou smirked. “Yeah, though don’t you think those shorts are a bit too small to be wearing?” He winked at Niko, to which Niko started to blush but didn’t hide his face.

“I wear what I want when I want. This is summer vacation month, so I never wear what you call normal clothes during the summer.” Niko giggled. “Come on, let’s get me a drink.” Ichirou didn’t hesitate to leave the room with the light redhead Niko. He was scared of being sucked into the colors and being transformed.

They made their way downstairs and a few more guests had shown up, even Darius was there now, but no sign of Dameian. Ichirou waved at Darius and he came over and followed them into the kitchen. “How’s your summer month been going?” Ichirou asked the girlish boy, who was looking more like a girl. His long bright red hair was flowing down his back as he had it loosely put up. He even wore a blue mini skirt and a white tank top. He had on black knee-high leather high-heeled boots even. If Ichirou didn’t know any better, he would have thought Darius was a girl and got his appearance from a movie Ichirou once saw, Pretty something. It didn’t matter as Darius looked great. 

“Boring, been hanging out with friends at the mall, guys trying to pick me up. I wish I went to the beach cabin with Dameian, but it would have been boring on the beach all day and getting a tan on my perfectly pale skin.” Darius giggled as he grabbed on to Ichirou’s arm. “We should dance tonight if you’re up for it.”

Niko turned around as they entered the kitchen and looked at Ichirou and Darius with an awed look on his face. “You two would make such a pretty dancing couple.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I’m not up for dancing tonight. I just want to have a relaxing night.” He told them. He could see the poker table was already being set up by Lyle and Hitsu. “I’m trying my hand at poker.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll get you next time.” Darius kissed Ichirou cheek before he grabbed a water bottle, that was in the cooler with the beer and left the kitchen. He wasn’t the drinking type of person, unlike his twin, Dameian. Ichirou smirked as he got closer to Niko, who was watching Kojima set up his bar station.

“You know, you never told me why you handle all the drinks being served, Kojima?” Ichirou questioned as he put his arm around Niko’s waist. He wanted to pull it away, but somehow, he had the instinct to do it.

Kojima turned around to see Ichirou and Niko there. “Well, my house and if anyone is getting caught for serving minors alcohol, it might as well be me. Just until I am eighteen. Then someone else is going to have to do it, or everyone just brings their own shit. That way I don’t get in that big of trouble. You have to be eighteen to drink, so it’s only natural someone under eighteen serves the drinks.” He grinned at Niko. “The usual?”

Niko nodded his head fast and looked at Ichirou, grabbing his beer. “And get Ichirou a stronger drink than this watered-down beer. I think he deserves a good stiff drink.”

Kojima turned around and handed Niko his drink. It was pink in color, so Ichirou wondered what Kojima made Niko. “I’m not serving you any stiff drink till you down that beer. You opened it, you drink it. Besides, I don’t think I want to serve you anything stiff.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t that drunk. Well, after the hot tub, I kind of started to lose my drunken state. Then I really lost it.” He could tell just what Kojima was talking about. 

“Right. It was that drunken state that got you in trouble with me in the first place.” Kojima narrowed his eyes. “I won’t forgive you for that, and I’m not forgiving them either. I don’t know what you had planned, but after that whole situation, I don’t want another one like that to happen to them.”

Ichirou snorted. “You think I would go through that again and especially since I probably lived out every guy's dream?” He smirked and Kojima shook his head.

“Okay, you got me there.” He handed Ichirou the beer he had before Niko took it. “Finish it and I’ll pour you whatever drink you want.”

Ichirou tilted his head back as he downed the rest of the almost full can of beer, before crushing it and tossing it into the recycle can in the corner. “We good now?” Kojima nodded his head. “I’ll have a rum then.” 

Niko was smiling and looking at the two, even during their whole exchange of words. “What is up with you? And just what were you two talking about?”

“Nothing.” Ichirou and Kojima said in sync. 

“Alright, but are you guys going to be friends or no?” Niko gave them each a stern face.

“Never,” Kojima said. “We are passed becoming friends.”

“I agree.” Ichirou nodded his head. “I don’t become friends with a bully.”

“Oh my. That was so elementary. Kojima’s changed a lot.” Niko rolled his eyes. “You two should let go of the past and just embrace each other already. You two would be such good friends.”

Ichirou and Kojima looked at each other before Ichirou chuckled and Kojima burst out laughing. They could never be friends. Even though they knew each other’s darkest secrets, they knew it would never work out. Niko pulled away from Ichirou’s embrace and grabbed his drink. “You two would make such a lovely pair.” He said sarcastically as he walked away. “I’m going to have some fun without you guys.”

Ichirou had a smirk on his face as he turned back to Kojima, who was making him the drink he ordered. “Here. Now, go fuck off, punk.”

“Oh, how I missed you calling me that, bully.” Ichirou chuckled and made his way over to the poker table that was only a step away from where Kojima was making drinks. “Hey, guys.” He said to Lyle and Hitsu.

“Hey, Ka-yu!” Lyle came over and gave him a slap on the back. “You want to play with us big boys tonight, I heard you say.”

“Well, I don’t know how to play, but I’ll figure it out.” Ichirou looked at Lyle, who raised his brow. “What? I have never played poker before. It looks like fun though.”

“Well, we don’t play for fun. We play for money. Ain’t that right, Hitsu?” Lyle called over at Hitsu, who was talking to another guy, who was built like he was on the football team too.

“Ah what?” Hitsu turned to Lyle. 

“We play for money, right?” Lyle grinned.

“Oh, yeah. We do.” Hitsu walked over to the table. “Though I guess for our first round, we can keep it free. If your playing, Ichirou.” He looked at him like he wanted Ichirou to play. Ichirou figured the money was tight.

“Sure, I’ll play. Just till I get used to the game.” Ichirou chuckled. 

“Perfect. Grab a seat. I’ll get the other guys in here.” Hitsu walked out through the patio doors right there in the kitchen and started talking to a few guys before they walked in and all grinning and said hello to Ichirou for joining them. They were the same guys that played at the other parties Ichirou went to. Only two regular students and the rest of them were jocks. The usual six now became seven as Ichirou sat down and joined them in their game of poker, drinking his rum and mix.

* * *

As the night progress, Ichirou sat at the poker table. The first round was free to buy-in. Then once two of the player had gone all out, the chips were rest and the buy-in started. The bet was a hundred dollars each. Ichirou didn’t mind, as he pulled out his wallet and laid a hundred dollar bill on the table as the others in the group had stacks of the twenties or tens to buy-in.

The second round was played and by now, Ichirou got to hang of it. His face had lost all emotion and he started reading the others at the table, with their little twitches or the way they held their eyes. Ichirou played off them, betting low and folding. He wasn’t winning anything back, as he was the first to run out of chips. 

“Are you going to buy-in again, Mini Ka-yu?” Their dealer, one of the jocks, said to Ichirou. 

Ichirou pulled out his wallet with a smirk on his face. “I’ll buy-in again.” As he pulled out another hundred dollar bill and placed it on the table. The dealer took the bill and set a few chips in front of Ichirou.

“You should just give up playing, Mini Ka-yu. You are going to lose your money fast.” Lyle grinned. The cards were dealt out again, Ichirou kept his eyes down and looked at his cards. He could win this all with the cards he held. Though, he needed a read on the others. He placed his bet down. Seemed Hitsu matched his bet and the same with another guy. This time, instead of folding, Ichirou raised the bet. This caught Hitsu off guard as he matched Ichirou’s bet. The other guy folded. Now it was Ichirou’s turns to show his cards or bet again. 

He showed the cards. Full house. “Whoa! What do you got, Hit?” The dealer said. Hitsu rolled his eyes and showed he only had a pair, the pot went to Ichirou. 

“He just got lucky, that won’t happen again,” Hitsu said, as Ichirou grabbed the pot and stacked up his chips. He was right, Ichirou did get lucky that time. Niko came up to the table, looking a little winded, he must have been dancing up a storm. 

“How’s the game going, boys?” He said as he flashed a sweet smile to Ichirou.

“You could get me another drink since Kojima won’t pour one for me.” Ichirou held up his empty cup, the first rum he had, and he hadn’t had another since than. Kojima was keeping Ichirou dry. Niko giggled as he walked over picked up Ichirou’s cup and walked over to Kojima. Ichirou could hear Kojima growl a bit as he made another drink for Ichirou. This was the only way Ichirou was going to get a drink, is if Niko got it for him.

Niko brought his drink over to Ichirou and kissed his cheek. “I wish you two would kiss already.” He giggled as the other’s at the poker table laughed at his words.

“Like hell, I would ever kiss him,” Kojima growled out from behind Ichirou. Ichirou could feel the eyes of Kojima burning into his back.

“Yeah, I don’t think Kojima would like to be under me,” Ichirou replied making the table of poker players howl in laughter.

“With that look Kojima has, I think you better take back your words, Mini Ka-yu” Lyle said, with worry in his voice but a smile on his face.

Ichirou turned around and seen how angry Kojima was getting. “Oh, come on. It’s all fun and games. Besides, you know I got the moves.” Ichirou winked at Kojima, and to everyone’s surprise, Kojima’s face got red. The room filled with laughter.

Ichirou wasn’t sure if it was red because of embarrassment or anger, but whichever it was, he was glad Kojima wasn’t reaching across the counter to hit him. Niko sat on Ichirou’s leg, watching the game progress. Ichirou noticed Niko had a pill in his hand and popped it into his mouth. Some things never changed, though Ichirou had to wonder where he had gotten it from. 

Another round went by, and Ichirou was gaining chips now, instead of losing chips. The stack of bills had to be well over two thousand dollars, by now with all the buy-ins. Niko wasn’t sitting still and Ichirou was getting annoyed at that, but he allowed Niko to sit on him in the first place. Niko was also getting Ichirou drunk, being the one to get Ichirou more drinks. 

“Man, I’m all in.” Ichirou pushed his chips to the middle of the pot. “Beat me, I dare you.” He had a pair. That would count for something. Though Lyle went all in too, to match Ichirou, so it was down against the two of them. 

“Flip your cards, boys.” Ichirou showed he had a pair of fours. Lyle showed he had a pair of queens. Lyle won the pot. “You in against, Ichirou?”

Ichirou shook his head. “Naw, I’m good.” He smirked as Niko got off his lap and Ichirou got up. “I’mma smoke this joint.” He pulled a joint from his wallet and put it between his lips as Niko led him outside. 

Outside, Kojima joined them and had a lighter for Ichirou to use to light the joint. “You’re cut off. You can barely stand straight.” Kojima watched Ichirou, who was trying to keep himself upright as he puffed on the joint and passed it to Kojima.

“I guess so,” Ichirou was trying to look at Kojima straight, how did he start feeling like this? “How much did you make me drink?” Ichirou blinked as he watched Kojima’s grin grow on his face.

“I made you strong drinks. You didn’t feel the effect until you got up.” Kojima had a grin on his face as he did it on purpose. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll dance your drunkness out of you.” Niko giggled as Kojima passed the joint to him. 

“Fuck that. I ain’t dancing like this.” Ichirou stumbled step towards Niko. “Quit hogging it.” He tried to reach for the joint in Niko’s hand, but Niko held up his hand to keep Ichirou back as he toked on the joint.

“Here, silly boy.” Niko passed the joint to Ichirou, who was more than happy to have the joint back, as he puffed on it a few times before handing it to Kojima.

“I think you are in charge of making sure the punk leaves safely, Niko,” Kojima told Niko, as he puffed on the joint. Ichirou had his arm around Niko’s shoulders, as Niko took the joint and puffed on it. 

“Alright. I’ll make sure.” Niko giggled as he passed the last bit of the joint to Ichirou, who smoked it all down to his fingers before putting it in the ashtray that was there. “I’ll make sure he calms down first. Kazayuki rides a motorcycle and who knows what will happen if Ichirou is on the back.” 

Kojima nodded his head. “Fine.” He walked back into the kitchen as Niko and Ichirou followed after him, Ichirou smirked as he looked at Niko. 

“How are you going to calm me down?” Ichirou whispered, though he wasn’t whispering as everyone heard, who was in the kitchen area. 

Niko giggled. “Come on, let’s dance.” He took Ichirou through the kitchen and dining area to the sitting/dance floor area. Ichirou joined Niko on the floor, they just swayed back and forth, as Ichirou stared into Niko’s green eyes. Niko was smiling sweetly at Ichirou.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Ichirou whispered in Niko’s ear, and Niko nodded his head and led Ichirou to the stairs and they climbed the stairs, though Ichirou was more so crawling up the stairs. He didn’t want to fall and this little scene didn’t go unnoticed by a few guests who were cheering Ichirou on to make it up the stairs.

Once Ichirou made it up the stairs, he fist-pumped the air that he had mastered the stairs, leaving the guests to laugh and cheer, before Niko helped Ichirou into the bathroom by the stairs. Ichirou went in and did his business, washing his hands after and walking back out. “You really should have one of these things on the main floor. Would make sense, wouldn’t it?” Ichirou came out with a smirk on his face. 

“I guess. Come on.” Niko grabbed Ichirou’s hand and led the other to his room. As they passed the gaming area. Ichirou noticed the crowd and also noticed some of the drugs on the coffee table in front of Ryoji, who was dealing and giving out some samples. Wow, Ichirou thought.

Once inside of Niko’s room. Ichirou stumbled his way to the bed and flopped down on his back. Niko had closed the door and locked it, before crawling on the bed beside Ichirou and cuddling into his side. Ichirou rubbed Niko’s bare side. They laid that way for a moment before Niko moved to hover over Ichirou’s face with his own and the two of them started kissing.

Soft kisses at first, before Niko was nipping at Ichirou’s lower lip and then it was open mouth kisses, and Ichirou’s hands were all over Niko’s back, pressing him closer to his body. Niko moaned softly as his hands were grabbing on to Ichirou’s t-shirt.

Ichirou’s hand slid farther down on Niko’s back, to his covered bottom and he squeezed his ass cheeks in his hands. Niko gasped, before pulling away from Ichirou and sitting beside him. “I don’t…” Niko started, but stopped and shook his head. 

Ichirou sat up on his elbows and looked at Niko. “What is it? Aren’t we just fooling around, like we do when we dance?” He looked at Niko’s face with playful eyes, though Niko’s face had a worried expression as he chewed on his lower lip. Ichirou reached up with a hand and cupped Niko’s face. “We don’t have to.”

Niko sighed and smiled at Ichirou. “No, let’s do it.” Niko’s eyes were full of excitement now. “I’m still a virgin, but I think I rather trust you. I know I’m seventeen and you’re only fourteen, but you are almost an adult.”

Ichirou smirked. “I guess, though I hope no one interrupts us. I have yet to experience what you would call an orgasm.”

Niko's eyes grew wide. “You don’t masturbate?” Ichirou shook his head. “Oh, wow. Then let’s have our firsts together.” Niko lean forward and kissed Ichirou. Ichirou was smirking slightly. Was this finally going to happen for him? Was he going to have the pleasure he had been craving since that night with the twins? He only hoped it would happen as he and Niko both undressed each other and were naked on the bed now, still kissing. 

Niko was on top and he grabbed a hold of Ichirou’s cock and started stroking it. “Ichirou, you’re so thick in my hand.” He moaned against Ichirou’s lips as Ichirou’s hands were cupping Niko’s ass. 

“If it’s too thick for your tight ass, we can stop.” Ichirou pouted in his drunken mind. He would hate for this to end so soon as he was getting excited to feel more pleasure.

“No, though, we will need lots of lube.” Niko stopped his hand and leans over to the side and opened his side table drawer and pulls out a condom and a bottle of lube. “I have been prepared for this for a few years if I ever got lucky.” He giggled and Ichirou took the condom and looked at it. 

Ichirou could feel the rubber between his fingers break apart. “It’s broken.” Ichirou looked at Niko. Niko shrugged his shoulders. 

“We’ll be careful, you are still young and probably can’t impregnate me.” Niko looked down at Ichirou with a needy look. “Until you are sixteen, you can’t impregnate or get pregnant.”

Ichirou smirked. “If you say so.” He brought Niko down to him, with his hand on the back of Niko’s neck. His other hand searched for the bottle of lube that Niko placed on the bed and he squeezed some onto his hand. How he managed to it one-handed, not even Ichirou understood, but he did know what he was doing with it. Rubbing his slick fingers in between Niko’s ass cheeks and rubbing against his tight muscle. Niko moaned and shifted his body up Ichirou, so he wasn’t overreaching around Niko. Ichirou made the first move, pushing in slowly to the first knuckle, Niko gasped against Ichirou’s lips and his hand found Ichirou’s cock and was back to stroking it. It gave Ichirou a sign to continue up to the second knuckle and slowly he finger Niko’s ass. 

Niko was moaning and stroking Ichirou, Ichirou pushed in further with his finger and Niko wiggled against his hand. “More, give me more, Ichirou.” He whispered against his lips. Ichirou groaned in pleasure as Niko’s hand squeezed around his cock. He complied adding a second finger and started stretching Niko’s ass hole.

“Don’t stop.” Niko moaned as his mouth went to Ichirou’s neck. Ichirou continued to thrust his fingers in and barely out of Niko’s body. Rocking him against his body, their cocks were touching each other and Niko had wrapped his hand around both and stroked them together. Ichirou smirked as he let the pleasure take over him, feeling growing in him. He wanted this, though he knew he shouldn’t be this close so soon. 

His fingers moved in rhythm to Niko’s movements and it just hit him, Ichirou breathing hitched as he let the pressure he felt in his groin explode. Niko kept stroking, even though Ichirou’s fingers stilled in his ass. He had finally cum and too soon for any action, though as Niko was panting against his shoulder, he could still feel that he was hard.

“S-stop, Niko.” Ichirou removed his fingers and pushed the other up gently. Niko held both cocks in his hand but he noticed the mess on both of their stomachs, Ichirou’s cum was sprayed between them.

“I heard of premature ejaculation, but I didn’t think-” Niko started, but the dark look Ichirou gave him, shut him up.

“It’s not premature. You don’t know how many times I wanted to cum in the last few days only to be interrupted. I just didn’t know it was going to happen so soon.” Ichirou had a dark look on his face, but his cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “Look, I’m still hard and needy. I can go again.”

Niko giggled. “Alright. I think you stretched enough of me.” He climbed off of Ichirou and grabbed a towel hanging behind that door, the only dark color that seemed to be in Niko’s room was a navy blue towel that Ichirou didn’t notice before. Of course, the door was opened before. Niko cleaned himself off and walked over to Ichirou. “May I?” Niko licked his lips as he saw the white mess on Ichirou’s toned abs. 

Ichirou smirked. “Have at it.” He thought, Niko was going to clean him with the towel but was caught by surprise as Niko used his tongue instead to clean him. He didn’t know why, but when their eyes met, his cock twitched in delight. Once Niko was done licking him, Niko crawled on the bed, on all fours and wiggled his ass in the air. “Take me, Ichirou.” 

Ichirou chuckled, feeling slightly dizzy as he got up and behind Niko. He reached for the bottle of lube and squeezed a gracious amount in his hand and stroked his cock till it was slick before using his two slicked up fingers and rubbing against Niko’s entrance and pushing them in a few times as a tease. He lined his cock up, and slowly pushed the head in. He watched as Niko’s ass accepted him, and clenched around his cock. Pushing further in, he shifted his hips against Niko’s ass as he fully entered the teen under him.

They both were panting at the feeling of Ichirou inside Niko’s ass. Niko was shaking at the feeling of being filled and Ichirou leaned over him to kiss his neck. “Ichi… Feels good…” Niko panted as he slowly relaxed around Ichirou. “Move, please.” He begged softly and Ichirou complied, moving his cock out and in against in short slow strokes, getting the feel for it.

It was different, the tightness was different than being in a vagina, but it made little difference as it was still a soft velvety feeling. He grounded his hips against Niko’s as he moved to straighten up his upper body, watching himself enter again and again inside Niko. His ass clenched around Ichirou’s cock every time and Ichirou loved the feeling before he picked up the pace.

“Yes!” Niko moaned out. “Harder… right there!” Niko was starting to become a moaning mess, loud enough that Ichirou just hoped no one could hear them. He kept going hard, hands on Niko’s hips, slamming back into Ichirou, hitting that same spot over and over again. It sent Niko over the edge as he came between his legs on the blanket below. 

Ichirou was needy, he wanted more, he wanted to cum again, but Niko was spent. He removed himself from Niko, as Niko grabbed the towel and covered up his mess, too dazed and in a blissful mindset to care. Niko curled on his side and Ichirou laid behind him. He cock twitching against Niko’s ass.

“You can keep going… Cum in me.” Niko panted, his voice gave away the smile on his lips. Ichirou kissed Niko’s neck and up his shoulder, as he pushed his cock into Niko pulsating entrance. His thrusts were slow again, his hand moved down Niko’s body to his cock and started stroking him. Ichirou did all the movement, stroking Niko, kissing his neck, and thrusting into Niko. 

Niko shaking again, his one leg moved over Ichirou’s legs as Ichirou kept going, moving quickly. Niko was moaning wantonly as Ichirou was grunting against his neck, a few growls from his mouth came from his grunts, he was getting close and Niko’s cock was hard in his hand and leaking. Ichirou was reaching that point again, the pleasure he was giving was making his balls tighten up again. He stroked Niko faster, and the other came with a loud moan. Following him, Ichirou came hard, slamming his hips into Niko’s back end and spilling himself deep into Niko. 

They both laid there, panting, Ichirou’s cock still inside of Niko, though starting to soften up. Ichirou nuzzled into Niko’s neck and kissed him softly. Rest was needed, as Ichirou reached behind them and threw over whatever material of blanket he could reach and they both drifted to sleep.


	37. Chapter 37

The sound of something knocking on the door came, though Ichirou kept sleeping. His arms wrapped around a body that was close to his body. Again, the knocking came and Ichirou nuzzled his face in the hair and neck in front of him. “Niko, get up!” A voice came from the other side. “Ichirou, we know you are in there.” Though, neither of them moved, they kept sleeping against each other.

A few moments passed before there was banging against the door. “Ichirou, if you don’t get out here right now, I’ll break this door down!” This time it was an angry deeper voice shouting through the door. Ichirou’s body shivered, but he was at peace laying here. There was some mumbling on the other side of the door before the door was kicked in. “Ichirou, get your ass up!”

It was Kazayuki who had kicked the door in. Both Niko and Ichirou got the scare of their lives. Niko sat up so fast and Ichirou groaned in discomfort as Niko moved. His cock was still inside Niko’s ass until just seconds ago. Niko hissed in pain and got up, though he didn’t expect it to hurt as he tripped forward to Kazayuki, who was there to catch him. Niko was exposed, naked as the day he was born.

“What the fuck?” Kojima exclaimed from the doorway, his hands in his brown hair. “Did you two really…” His eyes were wide at the sight of Niko’s naked body.

Ichirou rubbed his eye as he sat up from the bed, and threw the blanket off his body, exposing his own naked body and sliding to the edge of the bed as Kazayuki placed Niko back on the bed beside Ichirou. Ichirou looked up at his father with a smirk on his face, even if his father wasn’t impressed.

“You have some explaining to do, though I can guess what happened.” Kazayuki rolled his eyes and went to turn out of the room, though Kojima was standing there.

“I can’t believe you, Ichirou! First, my twin cousins and now Niko! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kojima was between shock and anger. “You’re fucking underage and fucking with adults.”

Niko turned to Ichirou. “You slept with Kojima’s cousins? At the same time? When?” Now Niko wanted to know and was drilling Ichirou questions and curiosity in his eyes.

Ichirou couldn’t help but chuckle as he stood up and grabbed his underwear. “The twins, together, two nights ago.” He pulled his boxer briefs up his legs and turned to face Niko. He placed a hand on Niko’s cheek, and stroke his thumb against the smooth soft flesh that was Niko’s cheek. “Though, they never finished me as you did.” Ichirou inched close to Niko’s face staring at him with his dark red eyes looking into Niko’s glimmering green eyes. He closed the gap with the touch of his lips against Niko’s, he could feel Niko melting into his kiss before he wrapped his arms around Ichirou’s neck.

“What the-” Kojima was cut off as Kazayuki chuckled, pushing him out of the room. Kazayuki understood what his son was doing, and he wasn’t going to stop him. He’d do the same thing in the same situation. It just told him Ichirou was his replica and seeing it for himself.

Once the door was shut, even though it didn’t fully shut as the door frame was broken where his father kicked it in, Ichirou pulled away from kissing Niko. He looked at Niko’s face which had become flushed with Ichirou’s actions. Niko opened his eyes to look up at Ichirou. He smiled sweetly at Ichirou. “I never knew you got around. Though, you are still sweet, Ichirou.”

“I never knew I got around.” Ichirou chuckled softly. “Really, it was an accident and I got lost. I ended up going in the hot tub with them and drinking. The next thing I knew I was with two girls in the bedroom, then Kojima caught us together. Though I hated it, I didn’t get to finish.” Ichirou snarled slightly at the ending.

Niko giggled and ran his hand through Ichirou’s hair. “Well, that might explain the premature ejaculation. Don’t worry, that’s between you and me.” Niko smiled and leans up to kiss Ichirou again.

Ichirou smirked in the kiss before he pulled away. “Though, I know why my father is here. I was supposed to call him for him to pick me up. I didn’t realize we fell asleep.”

Niko looked around Ichirou, and his eyes grew wide. “He waited till 9 am to come to get you.” He got up and walked over to the drawer and pulled out a pair of underwear and slipped them on. “Do you want to have a shower first, or later?” Niko reached for his towel behind the door.

Ichirou picked up his clothes. “How about together? Fuck what anyone saying.” Niko giggled and opened the door for them to escape to the bathroom across the hall and both of them when to have a shower together. Though, it was mainly the both of them making out under the heat of the water, before some knocked on the bathroom door. They pulled away from each other and Niko dried off and put on his underwear back on, as Ichirou finished drying himself off and handed Niko the towel as he put his clothes on and Niko opened the door to Ryoji standing there with narrowed eyes, towards Ichirou.

“You’ll fuck him, but won’t fuck me? What a slut.” Ryoji grumbled as he pushed past Niko and Ichirou both and slammed the bathroom door. Ichirou flipped off the door before he looked at Niko. Niko pouted, but Ichirou lifted his chin and kissed him softly.

“Don’t listen to him.” Ichirou kissed him softly again but pulling away. “I better go find my father.” He winked at Niko, making him blush as Niko headed back to his bedroom.

Ichirou walked down the stairs and smelled coffee brewing in the air and heard voices in the kitchen. He headed that way and saw sitting at the table, Hitsu, looking in rough shape, Lyle, with a cheeky grin on his human face, and Kojima talking to Kazayuki at the counter, pouring coffees for the two of them. Ichirou ran his hand through his hair.

“Welcome back, Mini Ka-yu. You should have seen it, Hitsu though he could out drink another guy and lost.” Lyke laughed, making Hitsu groan in pain, the headache kind.

“Mini Ka-yu?” Kazayuki raised a brow, questioning the nickname they gave his son.

Kojima nodded his head. “Yeah, these two gave the punk a nickname. He was called nerd before. Now, he is Mini Ka-yu.” He looked behind Kazayuki.

“Well, you still call me punk, so really Mini Ka-yu isn’t catching on with you,” Ichirou smirked and lean against the counter, just like his father was doing.

“Whoa, that’s creepy. Mini Ka-yu and Kazayuki, are like the same person.” Lyle’s eyes widened. “I knew they looked alike, but shit, not identical.” Hitsu lifted his head and looked at the sight before him.

“Fuck this, I’m going back to bed. I’m seeing double still.” Hitsu groaned as he made his way out of the kitchen, not even following the conversation.

Kazayuki chuckled and sipped at the coffee Kojima had given him. “So, what’s this I hear about you having twins?” Kojima almost spit his coffee and started coughing. Lyle’s mouth dropped.

“I thought he just got with Niko?” Lyle asking dumbfounded. Niko walked into the room with baggy basketball shorts and a baggy shirt with a hat tilted on his head.

“Oh, he was with me.” Niko giggled, as Kojima poured another cup of coffee, this time for Niko.

“You know my cousins, the two nineteen-year-olds.” Kojima gritted his teeth together as he spoke. Lyle clued in and started laughing, belly aching hard. And kept on laughing.

“I don’t see how that is a big deal. So what I fucked them, it was a late birthday gift for me.” Ichirou gave Kojima a look before he turned to his father. “If you had actually come to visit me on my birthday, I wouldn’t have gone for a walk that night and got lost and ended up with them.” Now he was trying to put the blame on his father for his actions.

“Wait. That was Thursday night?” Lyle asked and Ichirou nodded his head. “Oh, shit. They have the same birthdays too.” At his words, Ichirou snapped his head towards him. Though what Ichirou wasn’t seeing was the dark deathly glares Lyle was getting from Kojima, Kazayuki, and Niko. He was the only human in the house and getting glares from the three Vampires there, he knew he had to exit quickly. “Oh, wow. I think I have work today. I should go check my schedule. That’s in my bedroom and probably lock myself up there till I have to go to work if I work today. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” His words made Ichirou give him a puzzling look as Lyle rushed out of the kitchen.

“Well, then I guess it wasn’t your intention to fuck my cousins.” Kojima sighed, he looked at Kazayuki. “You’re an asshole I hope you know.”

Kazayuki nodded his head. “I know I am, but I can’t help it.” Kazayuki put his arm over Ichirou’s shoulders. “Though, I am trying to make up for missing your birthday, right? I’m guessing if you stayed all night here if you were at Mizuki’s he would be flipping out on you now?”

“Probably.” Ichirou looked at his father, looking into his red eyes, something wasn’t being said, and Ichirou wanted to know what it was. “Though you did kick Niko’s bedroom door in and now you busted the door frame. You were about to get furious at me, till you saw the state we were in. What would you have said if we were fully clothed and not sleeping close together?” Ichirou raised his brows with a smirk on his face.

“I guess, nothing,” Kazayuki said, shrugging his shoulders. “I think was just pissed at the fact you didn’t even text me to tell you were staying the night, though seeing you like that. I understand now why you didn’t text.”

Kojima narrowed his eyes at Kazayuki. “Really, you come to my house pissed that Ichirou didn’t come home and made me go find him. Then you break the door in for no reason.” He shook his head. “Now I realize where the violence in the family comes from, you.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to punch you in the nose that night. You fucking snuck up behind me.” Ichirou pointed his finger at Kojima. “That was your own fault.”

Kojima nodded his head. “Yeah, I know.” He scrunched up his face and finished his coffee then.

Ichirou put his arms around Niko’s waist and Niko offers his cup of coffee to Ichirou, but Ichirou shook his head. Kazayuki chuckled. “Now don’t tell me you two have decided to hook up for good, not just for a one night stand.”

Niko smiled sweetly at Ichirou. “I don’t date, and I never had sex till last night. I’m not going to fall head over heels for the first man I sleep with.” He was looking at Ichirou as he said his words, watching Ichirou's expression, though all he got from Ichirou was a smirk.

“The first man? The punk is still a child.” Kojima expressed himself, though Ichirou flipped him the finger as he pressed his lips against Niko’s. He wasn’t going to settle either, he liked Niko, but he wasn’t in love with him. “Okay, get the fuck out of my house, now,” Kojima growled. “You come back another day, but you crossed the line, punk.”

Ichirou chuckled as he pulled away from Niko. “I guess that’s my cue.” He held out his mobile phone to Niko. “Though, give me your number.” Niko nodded his head and took Ichirou’s phone from him and started adding his number to Ichirou’s phone.

Kazayuki patted Ichirou’s shoulder as he made his way to the front door, soon Ichirou was joining him at the door. “Thanks for the coffee” Kazayuki called out.

Kojima had followed them. “Yeah, thanks for paying for the damage.” He held up a couple of hundred dollar bills that Ichirou could see.

“Till next time, bully.” Ichirou saluted Kojima as he left the house.

“Yeah, next time, punk.” Kojima crossed his arms over his chest as Kazayuki left the house last and closed the door behind them. Seeing the motorcycle, Ichirou waited for his father to get on and start the engine before Ichirou strapped the helmet on his head and they took off.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underage Drinking

The rest of the day, Ichirou spent with his father at the mall. They went shopping, five-pin bowling, and even when to a movie. Though as much fun as he was having with his father, Ichirou still felt a bit embarrassed about the earlier situation. He was caught naked with Niko in Niko’s bedroom, even if he played it cool. When they had returned home, Kazayuki put the motorcycle away and Ichirou was already upstairs waiting for him by the door. He saw a few other residents, they were grungy looking and Ichirou paid them no attention as Kazayuki was headed his way.

Once the door was unlocked by his father, Ichirou rushed in and headed to the fridge and pulled out a blood package. He hadn’t had once since yesterday and it was slowly showing in his eyes. The redness created by hunger was slowly taking over the whites of his eyes.

“I’ll order some takeout. Chinese okay?” His father asked after shutting the door and putting down a few small shopping bags on the counter. Ichirou just nodded his head, enjoying the taste of blood. Kazayuki smirked and pulled out his phone and started calling and ordering for them.

Ichirou had finished his blood package and tossed the empty plastic in the trash can before he started going through the bags. He didn’t care what his father said, he was there most of the time with his father when he bought everything. The first bag he opened was from the smoke shop, a weed grinder was inside and even a glass pipe for smoking weed was wrapped up in the paper. Ichirou didn’t care about that. The next bag he opened up was Ichirou’s bag for sure. It had two pairs of black leather pants Ichirou wanted. His father told him he would teach Ichirou how to wash them properly. The third bag was a mystery to Ichirou, as he opened it up there was a pack of lighters and a box of condoms. Well, nothing interesting to Ichirou. He grabbed his bag with the leather pants and pulled out a pair and held them up to himself. They were a bit longer in the leg, and loose around the waist, but his father said he’d rather Ichirou buy them this way as Ichirou was going to be growing again. So for now Ichirou would have to wear a belt and roll up the legs. That was fine.

Kazayuki walked up to Ichirou, placing his phone down on the counter. “You like them?” He asked Ichirou. Ichirou nodded his head before folding them up again. “Good. I also bought you these.” Kazayuki picked up the box of condoms. “If you are going to be sexually active now, might as well have protection.”

“Really? You think I’m that active?” Ichirou scowled at the idea. “I just did it a few times, it’s not like I’m going to jump everyone.” He took the box from his father and placed it to the side.

“Ichirou, I wouldn’t care if you were a child born on this island, but you were born on the mainland.” Kazayuki sighed and reached over and placed the box in front of Ichirou. “You are going to use these from now on.”

“Why? I’m young and I’m pretty sure if I stay away from raunchy people, I’m not going to catch anything and I’m not going to impregnate anyone because I’m young.” Ichirou rolled his eyes.

“Ichirou, what do they teach you in school?” Kazayuki raised his brow. Ichirou looked at him and sighed. That’s what Kazayuki thought, Ichirou did know, he was just refusing to listen to reason. “And no matter what anyone says, you can impregnate anyone. You don’t have the same reproductive system as everyone else. The reason the adult age is sixteen is because of many reasons, one of them being everyone’s body is ready for the next step in adulthood, the baby-making stage. Now I don’t have to tell you that being born on the mainland, your reproductive system starts as soon as you hit puberty, right?”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, I know. And even if someone looks in clean health, there is always the chance of catching something they, themselves, don’t even know about and I could pass it to someone else without any signs.”

Kazayuki reached over and grabbed Ichirou’s shoulder with a gentle shake. “See, you know more about life outside this island than anyone else here.” He chuckled a bit. “Maybe all my knowledge did pass down to you?”

Ichirou looked up at his father. “Yeah, all the knowledge you know and stupid facts that I would never use in my life. I could become a teacher and tell all there is to tell, though I’d be horrible at it.” He had a smirk playing on his lips.

“Alright. Well, go have a shower. I’ll call you when supper is here. You may have washed down, but I can still Niko’s scent on you.” Kazayuki stood up, moving towards the fridge. “It’s like you bathed in his perfume or something.” He laughed lightly to himself as Ichirou tossed the box of condoms in with his leather pants and placed the bag beside his backpack, where he pulled out clean clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower.

The bathroom was small in size, there were a sink and a toilet in front of the sink, with the shower stall. It wasn’t the biggest bathroom but it would get the job done as Ichirou stripped down to nothing and stepped into the shower, turning on the water. He regretted his choice as the water was icy cold and even though Ichirou tried to turn on the hot water, the water remained barely warm. He showered and soaped up every part of his body, he didn’t waste time cleaning.

Everything washed, Ichirou shut off the water and seen a few towels hanging on the back of the door. Dripping wet, he sniffed each towel to find the cleanest one before drying off. He didn’t care if he was using a used towel, just getting dried off was the main train of thought. Once, he was dried the best he could get himself dried, he put on his clean clothes, hanging the towel on the door, before stepping out of the bathroom.

His father was nowhere to be found within the apartment, and it wasn’t like Ichirou had to look very hard. He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the couch and sat down. He flipped on the TV with the remote and started watching some documentary on penguins. He wasn’t interested, but it did put a smirk on his face as he watched the penguins take each other out on the slippery ice, much like using a bowling ball to knock down the pins.

The door to the apartment opened with Kazayuki carrying in a takeout bag and talking on the phone. “Are you serious? Does Mizuki want to push the date to tomorrow? Is the judge approving of this?” He paused as he rolled his eyes. “Fine, do it tomorrow, I’ll come by tonight with the documents for you to look at. Yeah, see you later.” He let out a growl as he tossed his phone on the counter and placed the takeout on the counter too. “Fuck, Mizuki is fucking testing me now.”

Ichirou got up and walked over to the counter, helping his father sort through the takeout food. “What is Mizuki doing now?”

“Mizuki somehow managed to push our court date to tomorrow. I don’t know how he did it, or if it was his lawyer that did it to change the judge we had, but now I have to go tomorrow to court. He must really want my fucking money.” Kazayuki sighed and took a box of takeout with chopsticks and went over to the armchair beside the couch. “We are going to have to go over to Junji’s tonight so I can give him the papers. That means we miss another day of practice before we hit the road.”

“You have a tour coming up?” Ichirou grabbed his own takeout box and chopsticks and went back to sit on the couch. “I thought you didn’t have to tour until next year.”

“Well, it’s a few festivals we have to play with other big names. It’s a back to school thing, and they are being held at a few colleges and parks. Nothing serious, though we need to practice a few songs with Yutaka. He’s good, but he isn’t great at them. They want to go old school for the music and Yutaka knows the songs, but not the pace. You know what I mean?”

Ichirou nodded his head. He did understand, he had learned enough during rehearsal and being on tour with them as a child. “That means you won’t be taking me to my first day of high school?”

“Shit, I forgot about that. I’m sorry, Ichirou.” Kazayuki cursed himself for forgetting the promise he made Ichirou.

“I don’t mind. Niko offered to pick me up for my first day. Well, Kojima and he will be picking me up.” Ichirou smirked, he wondered how Niko got Kojima to agree with that.

“I want to tell you to stay away from those two, but I’ll let you deal with it on your own.” Kazayuki chuckled, make Ichirou look at him with suspicion. “Well, I can tell Kojima is really into Niko. You being in the picture, even sleeping with Niko, you kind of put a wall between them. I know Niko doesn’t want a relationship or anything, but I can tell Kojima is really into him.”

Ichirou broke out in laughter before he shook his head. “Maybe, though I know the whole football team looks out for Niko. Though, maybe you are better at understanding these kinds of things with your great and mighty wisdom.”

Kazayuki rolled his eyes. “I know more than you think, my son. Kojima digs Niko and Kojima will do whatever Niko tells him to do. I saw it all before, he’s either going to set himself up for heartbreak with Niko, or they might get together someday.”

Ichirou rolled that idea in his head. “I guess you are right. Kojima will do whatever Niko tells him. Kojima hates me still even after beating him up, but he’s civil towards me just for Niko. I’ll back off of Niko, but if he wants me again, I’m not going to deny him.”

“Spoken just like your father,” Kazayuki smirked. They ate and talked a bit about the tour coming up before they readied themselves for another outing. This time to was to the old house Ichirou remembers them moving to when he was younger. They drove the motorcycle over there and Kazayuki parked it before Ichirou and he headed inside.

Once inside, Kazayuki was approached by an old woman, she was human, so it was clear that she was a bit older, but not as old as his father. “Here are the papers, Junji.” Kazayuki tossed the brown envelope to Junji as he was dragged off to the hallway. Ichirou raised his brow, he wasn’t going to ask.

“Hey, Ichirou!” Kiyo called Ichirou over and Ichirou walked over to Kiyo who was sitting in an armchair in front of the coffee table. The coffee table had white lines of cocaine on it. Kiyo held what looks to be a large thick straw. “You wanna do a line?”

Ichirou shook his head. “Kiyo, I’m fourteen, and besides, I don’t touch that stuff. I’m simple. Pot is good enough for me.” He sat on the floor beside Kiyo’s armchair. Junji was sitting on the couch, looking at the papers in the brown envelope.

“Only fourteen. You look so much older.” Kiyo laughed. “I remember when I was fourteen, I had just gotten my first full drum-set and played it hard.”

“Yeah, the only thing you played hard as a teenager. You were a virgin still.” Junji laughed as he was reading the papers Kazayuki had brought him. “I was already deciding my career in law school, my parents pushed me for it.”

“Oh, look at Mr. Big Shot here, thinking he’s all high and mighty.” Kiyo nudged Ichirou’s shoulder. “He won a case against those two Angel assholes and he thinks he has it made. What about the band, man?”

Junji rolled his eyes. “I’m still in the band. I only do the lawyer stuff as a hobby. Parents still hate that I choose a career in music. Besides, I’m getting pretty good at being a lawyer now.” Junji laughed as he put the papers away. “I think I could be a pretty good one if I took it up as a career instead of a hobby, but I’m not complaining. Kazayuki pays me well.”

“My father pays you to be a lawyer, what about your other clients?” Ichirou asked.

“Let’s see. I have no other clients. Only Kazayuki is my client. I told you before, your father has been in and out of the court system these past few years, he’s probably kept it from you, as nothing has been totally serious. He’s just got a few bad habits.” Junji realized he shouldn’t have opened his mouth, but Ichirou was accepting his answer. “Besides, I follow a few other lawyers with their clients, and I get paid some, but not a whole lot for discussing the situation and the outcome of the trial with their clients during trial. Much like the two Angels are a pair of lawyers that work together, I work with other lawyers just to get the feel of the court. I only work on my own as a primary lawyer with your father.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Hey, do you have anything to drink here?” He asked looking towards the kitchen.

“Yeah, beers in the fridge, kid.” Kiyo nodded his head.

Chuckling, Ichirou shook his head. “No, I mean something harder. I’m tired of beer.” He smirked as Kiyo blinked at him.

“Um, I guess there is some stuff under the counter in the corner.” He pointed with his thumb towards the kitchen. Ichirou nodded his head and got up and walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen was a mess, something Ichirou never saw before. His father always kept it clean so he could cook, but it was clear these guys didn’t give a shit about cooking. Ichirou opened the cupboard under the counter in the corner and found what he was looking for. A bottle of rum. He looked in the other cupboard for a glass and found none. He didn’t dare try to wash out a cup, knowing it would be just another mess to clean. He opened the bottle and took a mouth full before swallowing. Straight it was.

Just then the back door opened and two women walked into the house and saw Ichirou standing there with a bottle. “Oh, hey, It’s Kazayuki!” One chimed with a smile with bright red lipstick on her lips.

“No, it isn’t. Look closer.” The other one, dressed in leopard print leggings and a loose blouse pointed at Ichirou. “No tattoos.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You must be the little one, what was his name?” The woman with bright red lipstick asked.

“Ichirou.” The leopard print woman came up to him and smiled, showing her fangs. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Kelly.”

Ichirou jaw dropped. This was his old babysitter, Kelly. She looked older though Ichirou didn’t recognize her till she said so. “Wow, I hardly knew.” He confessed as the two of them hugged for a second.

“I was a college student back then.” She laughed a bit as Ichirou gestured to them to enter the living room as he walked behind them. Kelly had gone and sat beside Junji, kissing him on the lips. So, Junji and Kelly had hooked up? That was what Ichirou was understanding from that. The other woman was bent over, doing a line as Kiyo was caressing her ass. Ichirou smirked. They finally got women.

Ichirou walked in and sat at the coffee table, leaving space for the woman beside Kiyo. He held the bottle of rum and Junji looked at him. “What? I can handle myself.” Ichirou told Junji, taking another swig from the bottle.

“Fuck, Yuki! Harder!” Ichirou’s eyes widen as he heard a woman screaming from down the hallway and then it was followed by something banging against the wall. Was that his father’s doing? He blushed slightly and took another mouth full of rum.

“Damn, she is so lucky.” The woman with the red lips pouted. “She always gets the best action.” Kiyo rolled his eyes beside her.

“Well, maybe if you’d get here before she does you would get some of the action.” Kelly smiled at her, and the woman with red lips flipped her off.

“Maybe if you didn’t take so long dressing up for your boy toy, we’d have been here sooner.” The woman with red lips said, crossing her arms over her large chest. Well, Ichirou was now seeing the whole picture. Kelly was with Junji, and the woman with red lips and the other older human woman were fighting for a piece of ass, that ass being his father. That must mean Kiyo was just getting the seconds from his father. He felt bad for Kiyo.

A door opened, but the banging didn’t stop, nor did the moaning get any louder. It was Yutaka and his girlfriend coming out of a bedroom. “Fuck, can you guys put a leash on him?” Yutaka yawned, clearly, he had just woken up, and by the looks of his girlfriend’s hairstyle, they were rolling around in the sheets probably. Ichirou shook his head. This was not where he wanted to be. “Oh, hey. Ichirou.” Yutaka ruffled his hair as he passed by the youngster.

“Fuck, don’t touch me with your dirty hands. I don’t know where those have been.” Ichirou snarled with a smirk on his face, which made both Kiyo and Junji bust out laughing hard.

“At least I get action, you’re just a young virgin.” Yutaka teased as he sat down on the opposite end of the couch with his girlfriend sitting on his lap. They all knew Ichirou’s past when he was raped when he was only six, but they didn’t bring it up and they were still treating Ichirou like a child. Junji was the only one who knew what happened to Ichirou a few months ago. He had a worried look on his face when Yutaka spoke those words.

“That’s what you believe but I’ve had my own piece of the action.” Ichirou was still smirking as he took another swig from the bottle. He winked at Junji, which caught him off guard.

“Your hand doesn’t count.” Kiyo piped in before he snorted a line of cocaine. Everyone in the room laughed at that.

Ichirou just chuckles, he wasn’t going to kiss and tell. Let them believe what they wanted of him. A door opened in the hallway again, the sounds having stopped when Yutaka started teasing Ichirou. Kazayuki stepped out into the living room, looking pleased with the smirk on his face, the one that told them exactly what he was doing. They didn’t need to know as they all heard it.

“Oh, Yuki.” The older woman grabbed on Kazayuki’s waist and Kazayuki put his arm around her. She looked at everyone who was there and stuck her tongue out at the woman with red lips. “I got Yuki again.”

“Yeah, I know. I blame Kelly for taking too long.” The woman with the red lips pouted, but her hand was rubbing up and down Kiyo’s thigh. Clearly, she wasn’t put off by it.

“Hey, where did you get that bottle?” Kazayuki sat down on the floor beside Ichirou and took the bottle of rum from him, taking a swig of it. “You shouldn’t be drinking this shit. Go get yourself a beer.”

“Fuck that.” Ichirou reached for the bottle, but his father held it out of arms reach. “I’ll drink what I want when I want.” His words made Kazayuki stop and stare hard at him. Those words, they sounded exactly like the other’s words.

“Oh my.” Yutaka’s girlfriend giggled. “He sounds exactly like K-” Yutaka covered her mouth from saying any more as Kazayuki shot her a glare and past the bottle back to Ichirou.

Ichirou smirked, he didn’t care what she was about to say. He knew it was probably along the lines of he was exactly like his father. He took a swig off the bottle and lean against the coffee table.

Yutaka was whispering something in his girlfriend’s ear, Kazayuki sighed. “Seriously, you shouldn’t be drinking, you are only fourteen, Ichirou.”

“Right.” Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I think I’ve proven to you that I’m not a little boy anymore.”

“You aren’t a little boy, you are a hormonal teenager who will make mistakes, but you need to watch that you don’t make mistakes that could ruin your life,” Kazayuki told him in a stern voice. “Drinking out of control will do that to you, you saw what Mizuki is like, you told me.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes again. “Mizuki is a bitch, who just allows me to live there so he can mooch off of you. Don’t tell me I’m wrong, because I know I’m right.”

Kazayuki shook his head, of course, Ichirou was right, but he didn’t want Ichirou messing up his life. Though Ichirou should know, he had Kazayuki’s knowledge, but maybe he didn’t have Kazayuki’s memory, he was his own person after all. He was just a replica of Kazayuki, attitude, and knowledge, as well as looks. Ichirou was going to have to learn from his own actions and have his own memories.

“How about I roll us a big fat one, ladies?” Kiyo spoke as he brought out a small plastic bag full of weed. He even had papers on the table that he picked up to roll with as he was preparing to roll.

“Oh, yes. That good stuff.” Kelly smiled and sat closer to Junji, practically on top of him. Ichirou smirked as his father lean closer to him.

“You can’t. It’s laced.” Kazayuki’s whispered words made Ichirou look at him. His father was dead serious, just from the look in his eyes. Ichirou had a pretty good idea what it was laced with, and he wasn’t into that. He nodded his head. He’d just stick to his bottle of rum.

As the joint was rolled and Ichirou sat there, drinking small sips from the rum bottle, the joint was passed around and even his father skipped it. “What’s wrong, Ichirou? Thought you said you smoked.” Kiyo questioned as the woman with the red lips would pass to Ichirou, but Kazayuki would take it instead and pass it over to the older woman beside him.

“I do, but I’m drinking. I can’t handle myself with both.” Ichirou chuckled. Oh, he knew how bad he was, and last night proved how bad he could be.

“Live and learn, boy. Live and learn.” Yutaka said as he had the joint and passed it along.

Ichirou shook his head. He wasn’t going to no matter what they said to him. He took another sip from the bottle and put it down on the table. He felt it taking over his body, he was drunk. Though, he needed to go take a piss. Sighing softly to himself, he got up slowly, making Junji laugh at his attempt to stand. Kazayuki chuckled as he stood up and helped Ichirou stand. “I’m not helping you in there.” He teased his son as he leads him to the bathroom.

“I’ll be fine,” Ichirou smirked, as he was a little unstable, but taking a piss shouldn’t be that bad.

Kazayuki left Ichirou to do his thing in the bathroom and returned to the living room. “So, what have you been up to lately?” Yutaka asked Kazayuki.

Kazayuki shrugged. “A little of this, and a little of that.” He picked up the rum bottle and the cap that when on top and closed up the bottle, before returning it to the kitchen. Though, he just set it on the counter.

“I don’t think you should keep him a secret from him. It’s wrong.” Junji warned. “They’ll be in the same school and you know they will run into each other.”

“Yeah, I know. Almost had a run it on Friday night. Though he was hidden, that kept the suspicion down, though, he was cocky. Ichirou would have brawled with him for sure.” Kazayuki sat back down in the spot he was sitting in before. “I don’t want to lie anymore, but it’s going to cause an issue. I told Ichirou I didn’t have any other children and that he was my only child. Finding this out a few years ago, I should have told Ichirou, but he was out for blood, he knows of Ichirou and he wants to kill him. I don’t know how to handle this, because we have all seen his track record and he will kill without a second thought.”

“Maybe, it’ll be different now. If he didn’t kill Ichirou at that exact moment, maybe he won’t do it.” Kiyo suggested as he shrugged his shoulders.

“No, Ichirou is on his hit list. He’s waiting till Ichirou is at school to confront him because I told him to back off of Ichirou for awhile. He said he would, just to please me.” Kazayuki ran a hand through his hair. “Ichirou has no control and doesn’t care for the consequences when it comes to protecting someone he cares for.”

“Then you raised him right.” Yutaka smiled.

Ichirou stumbled into the living room at that moment. He looked ready to pass out against the wall. Kazayuki chuckled. “Well, either I’m taking the truck or you are following me, Junji? I can’t hold him and drive at the same time.”

Junji nodded his head and turned to Kelly, kissing her. “I’ll be right back.” He grabbed his keys off the coffee table as Kazayuki helped Ichirou walked out the front door.


	39. Chapter 39

The sun shined in through the window, beaming down on Ichirou. He groaned a bit, stirring awake. He barely remembered falling asleep, but he was laying on the sofa. Wait, how did he get back here? He sat up and seen he was in the apartment. His head hurt, running a hand through his hair, he closed his eyes, no damage.

He opened his eyes again when he saw his father walking out of the bathroom, completely nude. “Ah, man. That is not what I wanted to see.” Ichirou shielded his eyes from his father’s body.

“Sorry, thought you’d still be out.” Kazayuki chuckled as he walked over to the dresser that the TV was on and opened the top drawer. Even though Ichirou didn’t want to see his father nude, he let curiosity get the best of him. His father was hung, just like he was becoming, but that wasn’t what caught Ichirou’s attention. From behind as Kazayuki bent over to put his boxers on, Ichirou saw silver on his father’s cock.

Ichirou didn’t want to ask but he was letting curiosity get the best of him. “What is that shit on your dick?” He watched his father turn around, having his boxers fully covering himself now.

“Fuck, Ichirou. I know you’re a hormonal teenager, but you shouldn’t be checking out your father’s junk.” Kazayuki chuckled. “Besides, in a few years, your body will be exactly like mine.”

Groaning, Ichirou fell back on the sofa. “That’s not what I was doing. And my body won’t be like yours. I’m not littering my flawless body with tattoos.”

Kazayuki grabbed a grey flannel shirt and it had sleeves for once. He buttoned it up and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows and grabbed a pair of jeans. “I know what you are asking. They’re piercings. I got my cock pierced one drunken night years ago on a dare. I have six bars going through it, anything else you want to know?” Kazayuki zipped up his jeans and Ichirou figured it was alright to now look towards his father.

“Wouldn’t that hurt?” Ichirou didn’t have any piercing, so he really didn’t know, but he had gotten needles before and figured it to be the same thing.

Kazayuki shook his head. “Not really. It’s a pinch and then it’s gone. Feels a little sore after, but as long as you wait and let it heal, it’s perfectly fine. Some women like it. They tell me it’s better than using ribbed condoms.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Doing it with a man, I have to make sure to loosen them up, or wear a condom. It’s a little painful trying to slide in even with all the lube you can think of.”

Ichirou held his head. “Okay, enough. I don’t need to know everything. I only asked a simple question if it hurt getting it done. I don’t need to know what your experience is having them.” His head was killing him and he got up and walked over to the fridge opening it and grabbing two blood packages out. He knew he should drink water, but he wanted the pain to disappear.

Kazayuki walked over to the kitchen area and lean on the counter. “So, I’m going out for a bit. You can stay here and relax. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’m sure Mizuki will want you back at home tonight. Does that sound okay to you?”

Ichirou pulled the blood package out of his mouth, blood dripped out of his mouth and he licked it. “Yeah, I got my blood, so I’ll be happy.” He smirked before going back to sucking on the blood.

Kazayuki smiled and ruffled Ichirou’s hair before he got up and gave the keys off the counter. “Then I’ll leave you to feast out on your own. Also, you can’t leave until I get back. I don’t have a spare key.” Ichirou waved his father goodbye as he threw out the first package and started on the second. “Take it easy, you fiend.” He heard his father say as he left. Ichirou walked over to the door and locked the deadbolt. He made his way back to the sofa as he threw out the empty package in the trash he passed. The sofa felt like it was calling to Ichirou, so he took off his shirt and crawled back on the sofa, covering himself up in the blanket.

* * *

“Hey, get up old man.”

A voice was heard by Ichirou in the apartment, feeling groggy he didn’t feel like getting up. He turned towards the back of the sofa, still fully covered with the blanket. He heard steps come closer to him, his senses told him he knew this person, this person was close to him. Though, when the blanket was ripped away from his body, Ichirou sat up fast to glare at the one who woke him up.

Ichirou’s dark red eyes met with matching red eyes with a swirl of purple outlining the iris’. His eyes scanned over the other’s face, two eyebrow piercings over his left eye, he had a septum piercing in his nose, and a right lower lip piercing. His face was softer looking than his father’s, but it was no doubt, this person was related to his father. He felt the slight connection between them, the thing his senses helped him relax being around this person, this intruder.

“Who the fuck are you?” Ichirou growled as he stood up, bare chest, muscle toned arms, and toned abs. He was still wearing a pair of black jeans he had put on yesterday.

“Fuck. Seriously?” The other was wearing a grey muscle shirt that was a size too big, as the one arm was hanging off his shoulder where his dragon tattoo could be seen. He wore a pair of tight burgundy pants with a chain hanging down the front to the back of his pants. “What are you moving in now? Is that’s what is going on?”

Ichirou was confused but still, he stood his ground. He didn’t care if the other was a head taller than him, he reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and twisted it in his fist, and brought the other down to his level. Their noses were touching, Ichirou was ready with his left fist to plow it into this guys face, his smirking face, telling Ichirou to hit him. “Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?” Ichirou spat out the words one at a time.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” This guy was sounding cheeky with his soft-sounding singsong voice. “This is even better.”

Ichirou had enough and just as he pulled his head back from the other, his fist made contact with the other’s nose. His fist still twisted in the other’s shirt, he bashed his head into the other’s head. His left fist came again, but in the gut of the other, before Ichirou let go of his shirt and watched him stumble back.

“Shit, you are a beast.” The other guy brought the back of his hand to his nose and seen there was blood on his hand. With his other hand, he ran it through his auburn unruly hair, before he took a quick step forward and his fist was quick to meet with Ichirou’s cheek. “If you are going to fight, don’t stop. Unless you want to die, bitch.” He punches Ichirou in the chest and his next fist was in line with Ichirou’s face, but Ichirou caught his wrist and sent his fist in the gut of the other again.

Ichirou spit to the side, holding the other’s wrist and he decided to pull the arm and twist it behind the other’s back and using the pressure to push the other down towards the ground and bring his leg up to make contact with his face. Ichirou quickly let go of the wrist he was holding and slammed his elbow into his back, dropping him to his knees in front of Ichirou.

“Fuck. I promised I wouldn’t kill you, but it doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you.” The other guy’s words made Ichirou stop his foot and gave the other an opening to attacking Ichirou, full force. Pushing off the ground, the other guy slammed Ichirou in the brick wall, with his hands wrapped around Ichirou’s neck and slammed Ichirou’s head into the wall a couple of times before swinging his right fist into Ichirou’s face. Ichirou was dazed for a second, but too slow to catch the fist and it made contact with Ichirou’s nose, he felt the bone in his nose snap.

A growl grew in Ichirou’s throat as he grabbed the arm with the hand around his neck and twisted it again, but beyond the point of flexibility and a snap was heard. The other gasped and Ichirou slammed his fist into his face when he tried to look in Ichirou’s direction. A kick to his knee, Ichirou had the other on the floor and slammed his foot down hard on the other’s knee, hearing and feeling the snap in his knee.

The pain didn’t register on the other’s face, as he grabbed the front of Ichirou’s pants and pulled him hard on the floor, and got on top of Ichirou. With one good arm, he was punching and slamming Ichirou’s skull into the floor, as Ichirou was trying to block the attacks, but it was failing. The other grabbed Ichirou’s hand and bent it awkwardly till there was a snap within Ichirou’s forearm. Ichirou growled in anger and pain and went for the other’s throat with his other arm, but the other grabbed Ichirou’s arm and pulled something harshly, dislocating his shoulder. Ichirou dug his heels into the floor and thrust his hips up, make the other fall over him. His forearm had a break, but he could still use his elbow to gain even leverage to turn the other over and elbow right into the ribcage.

Next, then there were two sets of feet running into the apartment and Ichirou was seeing red, his fangs were extended as he growled. The other was in the same situation as him, seeing red, but cursing towards Ichirou as they both were pulled away from each other. Kazayuki had grabbed Ichirou and Kojima had grabbed the other. Ichirou’s mind was clouded with rage, but he didn’t understand why Kojima was here.

“Settle the fuck down!” Kazayuki growled at Ichirou and the other. Kojima was holding the other up as the other couldn’t stand on his broken leg. Kazayuki was holding Ichirou back by the waist. “You both can’t do this! You’ll kill each other!”

“That’s the fucking point!” Ichirou and the other said in sync. That made the two of them stop their struggle against the one’s holding them and they stared hard at each other. Ichirou was growling deeply as the other was panting.

“Kojima, get him out of here. Get him to a hospital,” Kazayuki demanded Kojima, which Kojima didn’t hesitate to follow. He pulled the other out of the apartment even though the other was struggling against him and cursing him.

Ichirou was ready to dash for the door, once Kazayuki let go of him, but that didn’t happen. Kazayuki sunk his fangs into Ichirou’s neck and the bloodlust rage was slowly dying within Ichirou and he was losing blood, making his head spin. Once he went limp in Kazayuki’s arms, Kazayuki dropped him to the couch and looked him in the eyes.

“Fuck, he shouldn’t have shown up.” Kazayuki was looking at Ichirou who was looking at him. “Your eyes are red, completely red. I’ll get you a blood package but you are not going anywhere.” Kazayuki told Ichirou, who was just watching him. “Shit.” Kazayuki cursed as he moved to the door, shutting and locking the door, before going over to the fridge and opening it up.

Ichirou, at that point, let his head fall back on the couch and he was watching the ceiling spin in his vision. What was that all about? Why was the guy here? Why did Kojima show up with his father? Just who was he? Kazayuki came back over to Ichirou and tapped his cheek a few times before Ichirou brought his head forward and Kazayuki was holding the blood package in front of Ichirou’s mouth. Of course, Ichirou didn’t hesitate to sink his fangs in and suck the whole thing back in record time, though, Kazayuki brought a second one with him and gave it to Ichirou. Again, Ichirou sunk his fangs in and sucked it back fast. And that leads to a third one, though Ichirou was sucking it back slowly as his senses started to clear up.

Looking at Kazayuki, Ichirou narrowed his eyes, the questions he wanted answered were written in his eyes for Kazayuki, who understood. “First, let’s get you looked after. We can fix your nose back in place and probably pop your shoulder back into place, but your arm is broken.” He ruffled Ichirou’s hair with a smile on his face.

Ichirou rolled his eyes as his father brought his hands to Ichirou’s face and popped the bone back into place on his nose. Ichirou flinched but didn’t make a sound as he finished sucking the blood package. Kazayuki removed it from Ichirou’s mouth and touched Ichirou’s shoulder.

“This will be easy. This isn’t as bad as it looks.” Kazayuki snorted as he moved Ichirou forward, and he gave it a quick punch, making Ichirou hiss in pain.

“What the fuck? That fucking hurt!” Ichirou stood up quick and rolled his shoulder, it was back in place, but he couldn’t even bring his hand up to check it out for himself as his arm was going limp from the break-in his forearm. Bringing his other hand up, he closed his eyes and let his healing power check out the damage to his nose and healed what tissue damage was done, and fixed it up back into place that you wouldn’t have noticed he broke his nose in the first place.

“Well, we better get you to the hospital to take a look at your arm there.” Kazayuki chuckled.

“No.” Ichirou turned around and stared hard at his father, bruises on his body were appearing on him, even his eyes were becoming black from the broken nose, even though Ichirou fixed that, but didn’t go further into healing himself. “You are going to start explaining to me who the fuck that was?”

Kazayuki signed and rest his elbows in his knees. “Ichirou, I told you before that I had no other children before you. Well, that’s not true. I realized after a while that kid in your class wasn’t lying. Do you remember what Ryoji told you?” He watched Ichirou’s expression.

“During that family history project in fifth-grade. I was eleven at the time.” Ichirou started trying to remember everything. “Ryoji couldn’t finish, but Hayden and I stayed behind and the teacher read Ryoji’s report to us anyways. Something about Ryoji’s sister, but what of it?”

“Guessing by the blood on the back of your head, you might have a concussion.” Kazayuki patted the sofa beside him. Ichirou reached back with his good hand and felt the blood wetting his hair and he looked at his bloodied hand after pulling it away. He went and sat beside his father and closed his eyes and started healing the tissue, his skull had a fracture crack in it, but Ichirou surprised himself by repairing the crack and healing the skin closed and fixing any damage done to the back of his head.

Once Ichirou was finished. He swayed a bit. “Water.” His father got up without question and opened the cupboard and took out a plastic cup and filled it up with water and gave it to Ichirou. Ichirou down the water. “More.” He got up and pushed his father to the side and turned on the tap at the kitchen sink and lean over and turned his head. He was sucking in the water, he didn’t realize how thirsty he was till the first cup of water, and he knew he needed more, or he was going to be sick. Drinking every night probably wasn’t helping him either.

When Ichirou pulled away from the tap and shut off the water, he panted. Yes, his body did need water and it was clear now that Ichirou needed it more than he realized. He looked at his father and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Are you going to continue or do I have to keep putting the pieces together?” He gave his father a smirk.

“No, I’ll tell you.” Kazayuki walked back over to the sofa and Ichirou followed him. They both sat on the sofa, Ichirou leaned back against the sofa, where Kazayuki was leaning forward. “I don’t remember it because that part of my life I wanted to forget, but I did impregnate Ryoji’s older sister. The son her father always wanted was what I helped create with her. I don’t know of him because she kept him a secret so she could take the son to her father. Ryoji’s story isn’t a lie, everything he said is true, and that Ryoji’s sister did tell our son I was his father, but I wanted nothing to do with him. I didn’t realize Mizuki’s dealer was Ryoji’s sister, the woman I impregnated.”

Ichirou was looking at the ceiling with wide eyes. “You mean that overly friendly woman, who sells to Mizuki is your other son’s mother?” He looked at Kazayuki, who was nodding his head.

“I found him three years ago. He was selling to Junji and Kiyo. He was thirteen at the time, not even in school. Though I had the connection with him and he noticed it too. His mother had gotten in debt with her drug habit, she was using rather than selling the product. He took it over and that’s how I met him.” Kazayuki sighed. “This is his apartment he was living in, away from his mother. I spent more time with him, as much as I could, living with you guys and kept him a secret. I talked him into going back to school, but he started the first year at the age of fourteen. His name is Kenji and he got a rough past on the mainland though you’ll probably hear about it at school when you start.”

“Kenji? That’s his name?” Ichirou asked as his father, who looked at Ichirou with the answer written in his eyes. “The Kenji that everyone mistakes me for being? He’s Ryoji’s adopted brother, though, by the story, he would be Ryoji’s nephew. Damn, this is fucked up. He’s the guy everyone is telling me to watch out for, the reason they wouldn’t stop Ryoji from using Niko’s mouth as a cum bucket is because of who Ryoji is connected to. I beat the shit out of Ryoji that night and had to hide in that bedroom with Niko to keep away from him. Fuck, I would have taken him on rather than get my ass raped.” Ichirou was starting to grow furious.

“Ichirou, what you two were just doing was scrapping. You two were out for each other’s blood, but you both were holding back. He was probably keeping to the promise I made him give me about not killing you for beating the shit out of Ryoji and you have mortals, you are just like me.” Kazayuki stood up. “Though, that still doesn’t cover the fact that he wants to kill you for keeping me away from him. He grew up without me or a proper father figure. And he blames you for that, though you had no control over it. I have told him it was his mother’s doing, but he won’t blame her for it, so he’s narrowed it down to blaming you, as he won’t blame me for it either.”

Ichirou growled low. “So I’m to blame for everything. What else could go wrong in my world?” He was tired of things going bad for him, just once he would like to catch a break and things go right him. “Whatever, if it’s a fight to the death he's looking for, bring it on.”

Kazayuki shook his head. “No, no one is fighting to the death as long as I’m around. You two can have your little schoolyard scraps, but if I find out you two are fighting to the death I will put an end to it.” He gave a serious look to Ichirou, a deadly serious look.

Ichirou sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Fine, though tell that to him. He’s your son too.” He still wasn’t accepting of that guy being his brother. He was so used to being the older sibling and have the younger ones come to him for comfort. There was no way he was ever going to seek out comfort with that guy. He’d have to be dead to ever want anything from him. “How… How did the court go for you?” Ichirou realized why he was left here alone in the first place.

Kazayuki snorted. “Mizuki thought he had something over my head.” Kazayuki went to the fridge and grabbed two beers and came back to sit beside Ichirou, handing one to him. Ichirou took it and opened it up with one hand. Clearly, his broken arm was out of their minds, which Ichirou didn’t mind. “When I presented the DNA results of testing, the judge called an end to the hearing as Mizuki couldn’t do anything else. Mizuki met me outside and bitched at me for going and snooping where my nose shouldn’t be. I told him if Yuriel was my child, I would have paid, but he’s not. Mizuki has decided to keep you there so he can receive some sort of income from me. It’s up to you who you want to live with, till you’re sixteen.”

Ichirou sighed. “I’m just going to stay, for Eliza and Yuriel. Though, do you think Mizuki will tell them the truth?” Kazayuki shrugged his shoulders. “Then you better keep up your appearance.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Once a week visits, and I guess, you can come on weekends when the kids get sent to Yomi’s. Mizuki realized he needs to find another income, so it’s going to be interesting seeing what he’s going to do for money.” Kazayuki patted Ichirou’s thigh and got up. “I’m going for a quick shower, then I guess I should get your arm looked at and take you home.”

Ichirou looked at his arm, really it was numb, like he lost all feeling in his arm, though Ichirou realized it was just the one bone in his forearm that was broken. It couldn’t be that serious, but he had to agree with his father, he needed it checked out. He down the rest of his beer and decided to take one of his father’s shirts out of his drawer, as there was no way he was in the mood to try and put on a t-shirt, his shoulder still hurt.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Underage Drinking, Implied Drug Use, Implied Rape

It was the start of the weekend, Friday night before school started on Monday. Sure, it was summer vacation month, but the world around the kids continued like usual with parents working, or in Ichirou’s case, Mizuki mooching off his father. Kazayuki was leaving tomorrow to head for the mainland. Ichirou had already Niko he would have to pick him up if the offer was still there. It was. Though Ichirou should do something to finish his weekend, his arm was still sore, the ulna bone in his arm was snapped.

The doctors wanted to operate on it, but Ichirou stopped them. He was able to reattach the bone tissues together to make the bone close to looking like one bone again. Though, he realized he couldn’t do it any more than that and the doctors were surprised he even did that with no issues. A small fracture was all he had now and it needed to heal on its own. Six weeks with a cast on wasn’t that bad, though Ichirou knew he would be out of the cast before the end of the weekend. He still did what little repair he could handle without exhausting himself.

Drinking more and more water was something Ichirou understood he needed more than ever. Still drinking two blood packages a day, the rest of the time he was drinking water. He didn’t even need to eat, he wasn’t even hungry for anything. A diet of blood and water was perfect for him and Mizuki hadn’t even questioned him as he came to the dinner table with his bottle of water and still joined in their small supper conversations.

Tonight, it was just the night for him to sit in his room, with a cast on his arm, reading his comic books. He couldn’t play his video games as the cast made it awkward. So, he was catching up on this week's comics that came out. That was until he received a text message from his phone. Mizuki realized Ichirou had one after Mizuki suggested getting him one, so he wasn’t worried about keeping it a secret now. He reached over with his good arm, his left arm, and looked at the message that came through.

*From: Niko - Ichi, u need 2 cum 2 the house 2night*

Ichirou rolled his eyes, he hated short texting, though he understood it was the fastest way to text, especially with the cast.

*From: Ichirou - Wat u need*

*From: Niko - Plz, cum 2 the house :’(*

*From: Ichirou - K, omw*

Ichirou sighed as he saw he got another text from Niko, but it was just him confirming that Ichirou was coming. He had to smirk to himself as he realized he was jumping for Niko, then again he grew up with Niko, so Niko was family. He would do what he could to make Niko happy, as long as he wasn’t ruining Kojima’s chances with him. He remembers the conversation he had with his father about Kojima chasing after Niko. He wasn’t going to go there for that, as far as he was concerned, someone probably asked him where Ichirou was.

Ichirou dressed in a part of ripped jeans, and a black t-shirt and even put on a jean jacket that matched the color of the jeans he was wearing and he walked out of his room. The jean jacket was the only thing covering up his cast. Ichirou didn’t want to be asked questions about it.

As he walked to the door, Mizuki was outside having a cigarette and he saw Ichirou at the door. “Where are you going?” Mizuki poked his head in.

“I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back later.” Ichirou looked at Mizuki, who was shaking his head. “I’m going out, or I’m leaving for good.” That made Mizuki sighed, he still held a trump card above Mizuki’s head. As long as Ichirou lived here, Mizuki would get money from Kazayuki, but if Ichirou left, Mizuki would struggle till he found a job. Ichirou didn’t know how long he was going to use that card, but it felt good and he would use it wisely.

“Be safe and come back before 4 am. I know how long you like to stay out.” Mizuki closed the patio door and let Ichirou leave. Yeah, Ichirou would have no choice but to come back before now. He should have set the time himself, but he wasn’t thinking.

Ichirou took the elevator down and once he was on the main floor, exiting the building, Hitsu’s car was there. Ichirou blinked as the window rolled down. “Come on, Mini Ka-yu. Something is going down, and Kojima can’t handle it.”

Ichirou didn’t ask, as he got into the car and Hitsu sped off, faster than the speed limit. He looked at Hitsu, who was bleeding from a cut from the side of his head. Now Ichirou had to ask. “What’s going on? Why did Niko text me?”

“Kojima doesn’t want the cops there, but there is a brawl going on between Dameian and Ryoji, Kojima is trying to keep Dameian back, but he has a murderous look in his eyes and Ryoji won’t stop taunting him, and even others are starting to taunt Dameian to take Ryoji out.”

That makes sense, though as long as Ichirou knew Dameian, he was a goofy kid who was carefree unless it had something to do with Darius. Though, before Ichirou could ask, the car pulled up to the house and Ichirou got out with Hitsu and walked to the front door. There was chanting and shouting happening in the backyard that Ichirou could hear.

Leon opened the door, looking pale. “This way, Ichirou.” Ichirou walked inside with Hitsu behind him. “They are in the backyard.” He pointed, but still grabbed Ichirou’s left arm to direct him through the crowd the was gossiping or scared to even outside. The kitchen was jammed pack, Lyle was standing where Kojima usually stood to serve alcohol. He was making sure no one was going to steal the alcohol.

Ichirou pulled his arm from Leon. He put his right hand in his front pocket on his pants as much as he could as he pushed through everyone standing there in the way with his left hand.

“What? Are you scared to touch me? You afraid of death?” Ryoji’s voice was heard calling out to Dameian. A few teens in the crowd were telling Dameian to man up. Though, as Ichirou pushed past everyone on the deck and jumped off, he could see, Kojima struggling to keep Dameian pushed back. At Kojima was a good defensive lineman to keep Dameian in his place.

“You bastard, I’ll kill you! You dare touch him like that! You deserve my punches!” Dameian called out. Darius was standing behind Dameian trying to calm him down, Darius’ clothes, or rather dress was ripped at the shoulder and his hair was a mess. Ichirou never knew Darius not to have perfect hair. Tears were in his eyes, but he was trying to calm Dameian down with his words.

“Your brother wanted it! He wanted to feel me in him! He was begging for it!” Ryoji was standing a few feet from Dameian with Niko in front of him. Niko was trying to keep Ryoji back from Dameian’s anger. Though he wasn’t built like a football player, he was doing his best by trying to get Ryoji’s attention on him.

Ichirou growled in his throat as he took a few steps away from the crowd and stood there. “Someone going to explain to me what the fuck is going on here?” He ran a hand through his black spiky hair, keeping himself calm.

“Ichirou!” Niko’s eyes pleaded to Ichirou. Kojima was heard cursing under his breath when he heard Ichirou’s name being called out.

Darius ran over to Ichirou. “Dameian’s going to lose it on Ryoji. I thought I wanted it, but Ryoji wouldn’t stop when I told him to, and than Dameian found us in his room and Dameian was pulled out of the house by Kojima and Hit, but Ryoji wouldn’t stop taunting him, wanting Dameian to hit him, so he could get his brother after Dameian.” He was shaking as he grabbed on to Ichirou’s jacket. Ichirou could see new tears falling from Darius’ eyes. He nodded his head and walked closer to the four there.

“Oh, don’t you even touch me, Ichirou. I’ll kill you right now if I have to, my brother wants your head served on a silver platter.” Ryoji’s attention was now directed at Ichirou.

“Yeah, whatever you say,” Ichirou smirked.

“I don’t care if he’s your brother, I’ll kill you for touching my brother.” Dameian barked out, still trying to get out of Kojima’s grasp.

Ichirou walked over and placed a hand on Dameian’s shoulder and gave him a dead serious look. “I would love for you to get your revenge, I really would. Though, I would like to suggest that you back down from Ryoji, just this once, please. Wouldn’t you agree, Kojima?”

Kojima narrowed his eyes at Ichirou and shook his head slightly. Ichirou knew his power of suggestion, though Kojima didn’t want it to be known. He didn’t use it, secretly, Kojima refused to make suggestions after what happened with his uncle. He did as a child unknowingly, but now he refused.

“I’m not backing down, once Kojima lets go of me!” Dameian struggled more. “I need to protect my brother from filth like him!”

“You can’t protect him forever! Plus, I already tainted him! You can’t protect someone that’s tainted.” Ryoji laughed at Dameian. Ryoji’s words weren’t just effecting Dameian, Ichirou could tell Niko was feeling upset, Kojima was struggling with the guilt of hold Dameian back and Darius was sobbing once again.

Ichirou could feel the tension and the struggle in the air. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He didn’t expect this and not even he knew how to handle this situation, so why was he called in the first place? Was it because they knew he was already on Kenji’s hit list? That had to be it. He walked over to Ryoji.

“Niko, back down.” Ichirou looked at the other and he nodded his head and stepped away from Ryoji as Ichirou stepped in front of him. Niko walked over to Darius, who was sobbing on his knees.

“You know you shouldn’t touch me. He’ll kill you for what you do to me.” Ryoji grinned like a maniac.

Ichirou got close to Ryoji, not touching him, but standing close enough. “I won’t touch you, but you make one move on me, it’s game on.” Ichirou narrowed his eyes. “You had your fun, you put on a show for everyone, but now I suggest you get moving before they are picking your lifeless body off the ground.”

Ryoji started to laugh. “My lifeless body? Oh, you’re killing me.” Ryoji broke out in laughter.

“Kojima, release Dameian!” Ichirou looked back behind him and patted Kojima’s shoulder. “I can handle this.” He wasn’t going to fight his best friend’s fight, but he was going to be the one to blame. He was already being blamed for a few things, why not add to the list?

Dameian was released by Kojima, the teen rushed past Kojima and Ichirou and speared Ryoji to the ground and the fight started. As Dameian was on top swing his fists carelessly, Ryoji was always fighting back and dodging, both rolling on the ground, trying to outdo the other, though Dameian was getting winded. He struggled so much against Kojima, Ryoji was getting the upper hand in the fight.

Others started circling them, watching the fight continue, till Ichirou noticed after a few flips of Ryoji being on the bottom, Dameian was exhausted and was barely defending himself against Ryoji’s punches. Ichirou took it upon himself to drag Ryoji off of Dameian with his only good arm, his other hand was still in his pocket.

“That’s enough, you won.” Ichirou pulled Ryoji off, and Ryoji turned around and punched Ichirou in the face. Ichirou was barely phased by the hit as it was just to his jaw and made his face turn to the side. Ichirou stretched out his jaw and looked back at Ryoji, still holding the back of his shirt. “I suggest you get moving before I beat you into pulp.” He released Ryoji.

“Fuck you, Ichirou.” Ryoji spat at Ichirou’s shoes. “You’ll be getting a visit from my brother.” He turned around and kicked Dameian in the side, and walked away back inside the house.

Kojima made his way over to Dameian. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

“Take him in the house. I’ll deal with cleaning up the mess.” Ichirou told Kojima, who nodded his head. Ichirou looked around at all the teens gathered around. “Shows over! Go home!” Ichirou growled out and his dark red piercing eyes made a few people jump.

After the fight, the party seemed to die down, most went home, where a few stayed to drink and talk about the fight. Dameian was sitting in the kitchen on a chair, with a swollen eye shut and a fat lip. He had multiple cuts and scratches on his face and arms, as well as bruises forming. Darius was on the floor beside Dameian, crying on Dameian’s lap as Dameian petted Darius’s hair. Leon had pulled up a chair and was sitting close to Dameian. The poker table was empty, only Hitsu and Lyle sat at the table with Niko looking worried. Kojima had taken his place behind the counter and serving up the last few drinks. Ichirou was leaning on the counter, Kojima poured him a drink, though Ichirou was drinking it slowly.

“I’m not angry, Darius, but why did you do it in the first place?” Dameian questioned his brother as he looked at him with a concern or as much concern as he could with a swollen face.

“I’m sorry.” Darius cried with a muffle on Dameian’s thigh. “I wanted to, I wanted to feel good after the pill.” Ichirou raised a brow at Darius’s words and Kojima sigh, making Ichirou turn to him.

“Ryoji gave Darius a pill, telling him he would feel good from it. Ryoji and Darius were close on the couch, so Darius took it and the pill that Ryoji gave Darius was like a date rape drug.” Kojima explained.

“How do you know this?” Ichirou questioned him. He knew Kojima was always standing at his makeshift bar area in the kitchen and never left the room.

Kojima gestured to Niko. “He told me what he saw.” Ichirou looked at Niko, who was chewing on his lip with a worried expression on his face.

“So, let me guess, Darius took this pill, felt hot and heavy and Ryoji took him elsewhere to fuck him?” Ichirou didn’t want the whole story, he knew what was going on now. Kojima nodded his head, confirming Ichirou’s words.

“Hitsu tried to keep Ryoji back in the house, but Ryoji hit him as I was texting you. I didn’t know who else could stop Ryoji if things got out of hand.” Niko had a pleading look on his face, he didn’t want Ichirou to get upset with him.

Ichirou nodded his head. “Well, you made the right call.” He sighed as he took a small sip of his drink and set it down on the counter, before walking over to his three friends. “Hey, you really gave it to him, man,” Ichirou smirked, as Dameian looked up at him with a cheeky grin.

“I would have given him more of a beating if I hadn’t been trying to get Kojima off of me. You guys should have let me at him in the first place.” Dameian chuckled, still petting Darius, trying to comfort his twin brother.

Leon snorted. “You’re weak.” He bugged Dameian with a push and Dameian hissed in pain and pushed Leon back.

“Let me help you guys. Darius?” Ichirou bent down to eye level with Darius who was sitting on the floor. Darius lifted his head slightly and looked at Ichirou with bloodshot eyes. “Do you need any medical attention? Are you seriously hurt?” Ichirou had been in this situation before, he knew the pain the other could be if he was fighting back, but Ichirou didn’t know how Darius had taken it.

Darius shook his head. “Dameian needs medical attention, not me.” He looked up at Dameian before more tears fell from his eyes.

Ichirou shook his head. “No, Dameian’s wounds aren’t serious as they look. I need to know if there is anything bad, like tearing.” Ichirou looked at Leon and Dameian for any help in getting Darius to let Ichirou help him.

“I’m fine.” Darius put his head down on Dameian’s leg again.

“He’s not fine. I can feel his pain. It might be nothing, but I’d listen to Ichirou, Darius. Remember, he can help you.” Dameian picked up Darius’ face with both his hands, bloodied knuckles. “Remember, Ichirou’s special ability.”

Darius let out a shaky breath. “I don’t want to leave you. I want to stay with you.” He sniffed as tears filled his eyes more. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“That’s fine. I can do it right here, but you need to stand up for me. I won’t even touch you.” Ichirou stood up and waited for Darius to decide whether he wanted Ichirou’s help or not. Dameian nodded his head and Darius stood up with shaky legs. “I’ll be fast.” Darius was holding both of Dameian’s hands as Ichirou stepped behind Darius and with his only good hand, he closed his eyes and moved it over Darius’s behind, hovering over it. He could see there wasn’t anything serious, he could see an opening that was forced into, Ichirou shivered. He knew what that opening was for on male born on the island, the extra reproduction organ males had. All Darius had was bruising and the tearing on the extra opening, Ichirou repaired the damage of tissues and nerves before opening his eyes.

Ichirou took a step back and dropped his hand. Kojima had already pushed a trash can towards Ichirou and brought over a blood package. Darius refused the blood package. “It wasn’t serious. I only used a small amount of his blood to repair. Dameian’s going to need the blood more.” Ichirou ran his hand through his hair. Dameian took the blood package from Kojima and started sucking it back.

“Ichirou, do you need some blood too?” Kojima asked.

Ichirou shook his head and turned towards the counter. “No, but I could use a glass of water before I get started on Dameian’s face.” He gave Kojima a small smirk, and Kojima got him a glass of water, which Ichirou down fast. He turned back to Dameian, who had finished the blood package Kojima had given him and threw it in the trash can.

“I’m ready for you, doctor!” Dameian grinned like a fool as Leon shook his head at Dameian’s joking behavior. Ichirou smirked. Dameian’s goofy personality made this situation seem like it was a dream rather than a reality. Ichirou stepped up to Dameian and hovered his hand over Dameian’s swollen eye and closed his eyes. Seeing the muscle damage, the tissue damage, and nerves, Ichirou worked slowly repairing. He didn’t want to exhaust himself.

With the eye healed, Ichirou moved his hand over the rest of Dameian’s face, healing the broken nose that wasn’t seen before and repairing the damage done to his lip. There was a small fracture in his jaw, but Ichirou was able to fix that with no issues. When he opened his eyes, Ichirou took a step back, unwillingly. He caught himself in a dizzy spell and Hitsu stood up to steady him.

“I’m fine, I got this.” Ichirou turned to Kojima and pointed to the glass he drank water from and Kojima got the hint and gave Ichirou another glass of water. Ichirou picked up the glass of water and chugged it back. “Another,” Ichirou demanded softly, and Kojima got him another glass, as Hitsu was still holding his shoulders to keep Ichirou stabled.

After the fourth glass of water, Ichirou felt the dizzy spell leave him and he was able to stand up without an issue. “Thanks.”

“Water is the source of your powers, Mini Ka-yu?” Lyle asked, after watching Ichirou drink a bunch of water.

“Not exactly. Water helps me from becoming dehydrated and throwing up from exhaustion.” Ichirou chuckled. It should have been easy for them to understand as they too, drank water to stay hydrated on the football field.

“Well, I rather give Ichirou all the water he needs than deal with another vomit mess.” Kojima laughed lightly.

Leon stood up and patted Ichirou’s shoulder after Hitsu let go of Ichirou once he was stable. “Man, you never cease to amaze me.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ichirou smirked. “When did you guys all get back?”

“I got back a few days ago from training camp on the mainland,” Leon told Ichirou. “I couldn’t believe the weakness humans have. I mean, I am a human, but damn, I’m a running back, and even still they couldn’t tackle me unless they went for my legs.”

Hitsu chuckled. “That’s because you have to face against me on the field during practice. We, Vampires, don’t take it easy, if you are going to play with the big boys, we treat you like one of us.”

“Yeah, that’s why I stopped going to those training camps,” Lyle said with his arms crossed over his chest. “We humans get our asses handed to us by Vampires on a daily basis and when we go to those camps, it seems to be a waste of energy on us because of who we play with.” He was the other human on the football team with Leon.

Ichirou smirked. “Think I should try out for the team?” He was joking, and they laughed, all except Kojima.

“If you try out for the team, I’ll personally take you out so you can’t play,” Kojima warned Ichirou. “We don’t need a punk like you on the team.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I can’t even try out if I wanted to, bully.” Ichirou removed his right hand from his pocket finally. “I have a fracture in my arm that needs to heal.”

Kojima nodded his head as Niko came up to Ichirou and tried to take a look at Ichirou’s arm with the cast on it. “What happened? What did you do? Couldn’t you heal yourself?” Questions started spilling out of Niko’s concerned mouth. Ichirou felt the spike of jealousy in Kojima, but it vanished as quickly as it came. So it was really true after all.

Ichirou chuckled and stopped Niko from asking questions by placing his finger on Niko’s lips. “I fell pretty badly on it and they wanted to do surgery. I repaired the connection of the bone together, but it takes a lot of my blood to try and create the tissue the bone is made out of, so I have to deal with the fracture till it heals on its own.”

“Oh, wow. You are really starting to understand your ability now, aren’t you?” Niko was amazed, or he was just high on whatever he was taking.

Ichirou looked at Kojima. “Well, if I’m not needed here. I might as well finish my drink and head home.” Kojima gave Ichirou a shrug. Seems he didn’t care if he stayed or left now.

Leon came up to Ichirou and put his arm around his shoulders. “The night is still young, why not have a few more drinks with us and play some poker? Heard you are pretty good at it.”

“I didn’t bring my wallet, so I have nothing to bet, sorry,” Ichirou told Leon, though Lyle cleared his throat.

“We can all still play, we just won’t bet money.” Lyle chuckled, he and Hitsu were already setting up the game.

“If we aren’t betting, what’s the point of playing?” Dameian asked as he was pulling up his chair to the table, Darius moved to sit in a chair close to him.

“What about kisses? The person with the most at the end of the game gets to pick anyone at the table to kiss them. Of course, if you run out of chips, you can still be dealt in, but you have to try and gain back the chips you lost. Everyone starts with five hundred in chips.” Lyle spoke as he was starting to deal out the cards.

Kojima came over and pulled up a seat as well. “Deal me in, I’m game for it.” He grinned widely.

“Oh, the big player has come to play.” Hitsu laughed. “Go easy on us, big shot.”

“Never, I want my kiss.” Kojima chuckled.

Niko looked at Ichirou and smiling sweetly at him, before sitting at the table as well. Ichirou sighed, picking up his alcohol drink he was sipping on earlier and sat down beside Dameian and Leon. He was going to try and gain what he could in chips, but with there being no money on the line, he wasn’t worried about losing. Just learning how to play the game better.

They were playing Texas Hold’em that night, and everyone had a chance at being the dealer during their game. And by the end of the night, only Kojima and Hitsu had chips, so they were counting out their chips. Niko was counting out Kojima’s and Lyle was counting out Hitsu, and Kojima had won it all. Ichirou watched Kojima grinning like a fool as he cupped Niko’s face and planted his kisses on Niko’s. The kiss was short and sweet, but Kojima went in for more. That night as Kojima lead Niko up the stairs, as Ichirou, Leon, Dameian, and Darius headed out of the house, Ichirou had a feeling Kojima was going to get lucky tonight, both of them were, as Lyle and Hitsu waved farewell to the four.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Incest, Underage Rape

Waking up from the sound of the alarm, Ichirou rolled over and seen what time it was. He groaned and wanted to go back to sleep, but today was the first day back at school. Though, instead of going to elementary school, he was going to high school. He was a First-Year student now. He had no idea what to expect.

Though, Ichirou already knew what he was going to wear, one of the new pairs of black leather pants. That was the easy part of the day so far. He picked out a band t-shirt and looked at himself in the mirror. He was still dead tired, but it went with his look. Putting on his gothic style cross he’s had since elementary school, he headed out of his room to see Mizuki just waking up.

“Morning,” Ichirou said as he walked over to the fridge and took out a blood package.

“First day of high school.” Mizuki smiled tiredly. “You know you have to take the city bus now, right? Do you remember which one you have to take?”

“No need. I have a ride coming to pick me up.” Ichirou said before he sunk his fangs into the plastic and started sucking.

“Well, that’s good.” Mizuki yawned. “I’ll get the other kids up.” He started walking away down the hallway to the other bedrooms. Ichirou shook his head a bit and looked at the papers laying down on the counter. Mizuki was still job hunting and was having no luck with it at all. Then again, Mizuki was trying to go for the higher-paying jobs. As far as Ichirou understood, Mizuki didn’t go to college, so why what was he doing? Trying to use his celebrity status to get a job? Ichirou smirked, like that would ever happen.

A text message came in for Ichirou on his cell phone and he picked it up and looked at it. It was from Niko telling him they were here. He threw out his empty blood package and walked to the door. Slipping on his converse shoes and tying them up, he reached for his back there. The same one he used in elementary school, though now it was filled with a few books he needs for school and a binder.

“Oh, you going already?” Eliza came walking out of her room. She walked over to Ichirou and hugged him. “Have fun at the big kid school. Don’t get into any trouble.” She gave him a stern look in her eyes. Yuriel came out with Mizuki and saw what was happening and rushed over to Ichirou, practically jumping at him for a hug.

“Bye, Ichirou. I’m going to miss you.” Yuriel sniffed in Ichirou’s ear.

“I’m just going to school guys, it’s not like I’m leaving forever.” Ichirou chuckled as he set Yuriel down. “Well, I’ll see you guys later.” He waved to them as he left out the door, with them hollering their goodbyes at him. Ichirou headed down the stairwell instead of the elevator and jumped most of the way down to the main level before he exited the building. There he saw Niko sitting in Kojima’s red truck in the middle, waiting for him. He smirked as he got closer. This was going to be an interesting day, thought Ichirou. New school and a new environment.

* * *

Outside the big building, there were lines set up with booths. Above each booth stated a year, from First to Sixth. Ichirou sighed. He was going to have to go to school for six more years. It wasn’t that bad, but he kind of wished it was just like the mainland. He knew on the mainland it was either four or five years of high school, not six.

“Well, this is where we leave you, Ichirou.” Niko came up to him and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Kojima and I are Fifth-Year. You have to go to the First Year booth.”

Ichirou nodded his head and looked towards Kojima, who had his hands in his pockets. “Thanks for the ride.” He said to Kojima, who scowled slightly, but wasn’t looking at Ichirou at all. He shrugged his shoulders, adjusted his backpack, and headed to where he was needing to go. There weren’t very many kids there yet, but Ichirou looked around for his friends, none of them were there yet, though he did notice Hayden standing there. He shook his head and walked up to the booth.

“Name, please.” The male teacher asked, not looking up at Ichirou as he was sorting through papers. Two other male teachers were standing behind the booth talking to each other.

“Matsumoto, Ichirou Matsumoto.” He spoke his name clear and the three teachers standing behind the booth stopped what they were doing and looked at him with fear on their faces. The kids behind Ichirou continued talking to each other, not affected by Ichirou speaking his name. “Is there something wrong?” Ichirou asked as a smirk played on his lips.

“Ah, no. No, sorry.” The male teacher at the booth shuffled through papers and handed Ichirou a couple, with a shaking hand. “You have to stay here, and wait to be escorted to the auditorium, if you will do that.”

Ichirou shrugged. “Sure, not a problem.” He turned around and walked a few steps away, he could hear the teachers whispering, but he didn’t pay attention as Leon and Dameian walked up to him.

“Hey, buddy!” Leon said, putting his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders. “How’s it going?”

Ichirou chuckled. “Well, I know my name scares the shit out of the teachers, so it’s going alright.” He smirked at them as they looked at his papers.

“Are you sure? Your name seems pretty normal and your father is famous, but he isn’t scary looking or causes any trouble.” Dameian was confused by it, though Leon sighed.

“It’s a common name, probably.” Leon shrugged his shoulders off of Ichirou’s. He knew why, but he wasn’t going to say anything. “Come on, let’s get our papers.” He told Dameian and pulled the other away towards the booth to get their papers. Ichirou looked down at his, reading the schedule he had. History B, Mathematics A, Science C, Language A, and Gym C. Seemed pretty simple enough.

Dameian came back with his schedule and took Ichirou’s from him. “Let’s see what classes we have together.” He looked at both papers comparing them together. “Damn, we only got Math A and Language A together.”

Leon came up and showed Dameian his schedule. “Dameian, you have to realize that the first three years have classes together, so we aren’t going to be in the same class. Class A is First Year level, Class B is Second, and Class C is Third Year level.” Ichirou raised a brow as he looked at Leon for more information. “How it works out is that the first three years are split up, mixed. Five subjects, three different years, so if you have a class B this year, next year you could end up in class A or C.”

“Ah, so what all classes do you have, Dameian?” Ichirou went to go look over Dameian’s shoulder.

“Science A, Mathematics A, Gym A, Language A, History A.” Dameian pouted. “You guys get all the mixed classes and I get stuck with the beginner classes.”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself, Dameian.” Leon put his arm over his shoulders. “You just weren’t that smart in school and they figured they should let you have it easy.” Leon chuckled as Dameian pushed him away. Leon grabbed his schedule from Dameian and read it out loud. “Science A, Mathematics A, History C, Language A, Gym C.”

Ichirou smirked. “Only Math A and Language A are the classes we all have together.”

“Yeah, that means I’m stuck with Dameian for the first class of the day, Science A, and stuck with you for the last class of the day, Gym C.” Leon expressed with sadness, though Ichirou knew he was joking.

“I have the same classes as my brother.” Darius walked up to them. “That means we’re are stuck together for the whole year.” He rolled his eyes as he let out a heavy sigh. Surprisingly, Darius wasn’t dressed up in a dress or skirt. He was wearing skin-tight pants and only a flowery flowy shirt.

That was a shock to Ichirou and it must have been noticed by Leon, who turned Ichirou around and whispered in his ear. “Darius hasn’t been the same since Friday night. I think the whole experience with Ryoji caused his change. Dameian told me he was going to shave his head, but Dameian stopped Darius from doing it.” Ichirou nodded his head at Leon’s words. Darius must be taking the whole experience pretty bad, it was traumatizing for him. Even Ichirou could understand where Darius was coming from. They both turned back to talk to Dameian and Darius, who were discussing which one of them made their marks so low they ended up in the First Year classes together.

Ichirou chuckled as Dameian complained Darius wasn’t athletic enough, and Darius was about to open his mouth to say something back, but he stood there frozen to the spot. The three looked at Darius then followed where his eyes were wide and looking at. Ryoji was standing there with a few other kids and Hayden with a grin on his face as he was glancing at Darius. He gave Darius a wink and that made Darius turn away, right into Dameian.

Ichirou ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. This was going to be awkward for Darius, probably all year, or until Ryoji moved on for teasing him. Ichirou walked over to Darius and he had a feeling, he needed to do something about this. He leans in and whispered in Darius’ ear. “I’m not going to let him hurt you again. I’ll protect you.”

Darius lifted his face away from Dameian’s shoulder and turned to Ichirou, before clinging on to Ichirou. Dameian gave Ichirou a look that showed he was pissed off, but he knew Ichirou could protect Darius, he just wished he was strong enough to protect his twin brother.

“Alright, First Year students, if you will all follow me, we will be going to the auditorium for your welcome speech.” The teacher was one of the males Ichirou had already seen, and The whole group of First Year students followed him, Ichirou kept his arm over Darius’ shoulders as they walked into the school. A big wide staircase greeted them in an open area with couches and a sign showing where the office was on the right. They walked around the staircase to an area where lockers were. “This will be where you will find your lockers, but you will do that after.” The male teacher spoke as he directed them to the right, where two large doors were, and opened them.

Inside behind a half wall was a seating area, with a set of stairs on either. There were more seats further down that were stationary to their spots. And a large stage in front of all the chairs. It kid of reminded Ichirou of a concert layout, just no designated standing area in front of the stage. Everyone was lead to the front rows and told to take a seat. The class of twenty students took up almost the first four rows. Ichirou and his friends took up the third row.

Then, another male walked out on the stage and stood at a podium. He turned the microphone on and began welcoming everyone. He was their principal, a young-looking man, with whitish hair that didn’t match his youthful appearance at all. Ichirou could tell he was an Angel, somehow, Ichirou’s nose told him exactly who everyone was in the auditorium. The three teachers they had met at the booth were human. Though, Ichirou wasn’t worried about that. It was the other teens with him he was worried about and strange to say but only he and Hayden were a year older than everyone else.

The front row had Hayden, sitting beside Ryoji. Ryoji was sitting beside another Angel, and if Ichirou remembered correctly it was Ryan. The kid Ichirou beat up when Ichirou was beating up Kojima. Then beside him was a human girl and two other human boys to follow. In the second row, sitting behind Hayden was Tayla, one of the human girls from Ichirou’s class. Beside her was Cadance, another human girl, then it was Paige, the other girl Ichirou was in school with who was a Vampire. Then, beside her was another Angel. A male Angel, followed by a female Angel, and a human male. The third row was where Ichirou and his friends sat, Leon, Dameian, with Darius between Dameian and Ichirou. In the row behind Ichirou, he could tell a female Angel was sitting behind Leon, then a human male, followed by another human male, and sitting behind Ichirou was a male Angel before the row ended with a female human.

Ichirou knew females weren’t common on the mainland anymore, because of Vampire attacks on the female population there. Though, seven females were sitting right here in this very room. Even more shocking was the Angels in the room, never had Ichirou seen so many in a room, even the principal commented that there have never been more than two Angels in a First-Year class. What was surprising Ichirou the most was the fact of the Vampires sitting in that room right then were him, the twins, Ryoji, and Paige. The same kids he went to school with. He knew that the Vampire population outweighed the population of humans and Angels, but not in this class.

The welcoming speech seemed to drag on, even Ichirou was trying not to yawn as a few others had down so. What felt like an hour or more, the speech was coming to an end. “…your class is the smallest this year. Now, we have a few volunteers from our Sixth Year class that will take one of you at a time and go find your lockers and give you a tour of the school. Classes won’t start today, as you will notice a few students in the hallways. You will follow and listen to these Sixth Year students and not run off with your friends until your tour is completed.” The principal gestures to the backstage to the students that came out from behind the curtains. “They will be choosing you, not the other way around.”

Ichirou noticed Hitsu on stage, he must have volunteered because he didn’t look forced like some of the other students. Hitsu eyes were on Ichirou before they shifted to Darius. He looked at Darius, who was a nervous wreck. “What is it?”

“I don’t want to stay away from you or Dameian. I need one of you with me. Even Leon. I don’t want to go off with another.” He whispered so softly, Ichirou was straining his hearing to listen to him.

Looking over Darius to Dameian and Leon. “I bet Hitsu will take Darius, he’s going to have a mental breath down if anyone else takes him.” They nodded and looked at the stage as the Sixth Year students were allowed to go pick and choose who they wanted to take on the tour and Hitsu made his way for to Ichirou.

“Hey, I have to take one of you, so who will it be?” Hitsu asked the group looking at them with a smile, but his eyes were trained on Darius.

Darius sat up, his green eyes had tears in them, but they didn’t fall. “Are you going to take me?” Hitsu nodded his head.

“I know it’s a new and scary experience here, but you are going through a rough time right now, so let me be your guide.” Hitsu offered his hand out to Darius, who took it without a second thought.

“Thank you, Hit.” Darius gave him a soft smile and Hitsu took the papers from Darius and once they were walking away, Hitsu had his arm around Darius’ shoulders.

Ichirou sat there, as a fe3w of the older teens looked at him and quickly looked away. What was up with that? Did they think he looked like Kenji and thought he was exactly like Kenji? Even Ichirou knew that was a lie, he was nothing like Kenji, maybe similar in appearances but that was far from the truth.

Dameian got picked by a girl, and Leon got picked by another football jock. They probably knew each other from football practice, though Ichirou just sat there, watching everyone get picked and walk on by. Till he was the only one sitting there and there was still a Sixth Year student standing on stage, not looking impressed. He probably didn’t want to be here anymore than Ichirou did.

“John, you will be paired with, what’s your name?” The principal asked as it was only the three of them in the room.

Ichirou smirked. “Ichirou.” That was all he was going to say, after his experience with the three teachers this morning, it was probably best he only said his first name from now on.

John stood there, a scowl on his face. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a red shirt underneath, and a pair of blue jeans with biker style leather boots. He jumped down from the stage, with his arms crossed over his chest as he walked over towards Ichirou. Ichirou’s dark red eyes met with brown ones. John had a few piercings on his face, like his eyebrow and lip, as well as his ears, were heavily filled with piercings. He had short brown hair, it was longer on top but shaved on the sides. Ichirou could see a tattoo on the side of his neck, creeping down under his shirt. He wasn’t scary, he just looked like a regular badass wannabe gang biker.

“Just show me where my locker is and we can get this over with.” Ichirou snorted, he wasn’t impressed by him and the badass John wasn’t phased by him either. First time for everything.

With a nodded of his head, John walked ahead of Ichirou out of the auditorium to the area where all the lockers were. “What’s the number, kid?” Were the first words John spoke, his voice was gruff sounding like Ichirou expected it to be.

“Two Sixty-Nine.” Ichirou looked at the paper in his head and watched John walk away before slamming his arm into the locker. Ichirou walked over to him, looked at the locker, before opening it and throwing his backpack inside. He grabbed the lock he was supposed to bring to lock up his locker and shut the locker door, before putting the lock on it. “Thanks, John.” Ichirou rolled his eyes as he turned to walk away.

John reached out and turned Ichirou towards him. “Where do you think you are going, kid?” He gave Ichirou a displeasing look.

“Home.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest.

“Can’t let you do that. Yours partnered with me and I have to do this, or else.” John didn’t seem pleased with this idea, though there must be a reason why John just had to do this against his will. He couldn’t let Ichirou go till he gave a tour.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Fine.” That was all he said, till the other grabbed the back of his neck and lead him to the other side under the big staircase.

“This here is the hallway to the Class A classrooms, as well as the gym. There are locker rooms on either side of the gym doors to lead you to the change rooms.” This badass John guy described the hallway but didn’t take Ichirou down the hallway. He instead kept his hand on the back of Ichirou’s neck and lead him around and up the big staircase.

Ichirou was getting irritated by John touching him. If he didn’t know better, he would turn around and punch this guy in the face. This guy was only a foot or more taller than Ichirou and he was leading him around like a dog on a wire leash.

Once up the stairs, they turned the right. “Down the hallway on the right is the Class B classrooms and down the left is Class C classrooms.” Ichirou gave a nod of his head in understanding. It was pretty basic for him. He was turned around and directed to the left of the staircase. “That there is the girls' washroom, don’t let me catch you in there.” There was a sign that even said girls, so Ichirou wouldn’t be caught dead in there unless there was a good reason for it. “And the book place.” The library was across from the girls' washroom.

John leads Ichirou through a set of doors into an area with tables and chairs and even a kitchen behind the counter. “This is the cafeteria. This is where you have lunch.” Well, no shit, Ichirou thought as they walked through. If he wasn’t mistaken a few students were looking their way and whispering to themselves, the scent of fear was clear in some. This badass John guy must be a badass here after all.

Through another set of doors at the end of the cafeteria, John paused. “That there is boys washroom and across from it is the guidance counselor. You won’t need to go there. She’s a bitch and tells me to smarten up.” Ichirou wondered why the guidance counselor would tell John that, with a roll of his eyes. “After this area down the hall to your right is the upper years' classrooms. You don’t need to go down here.” Though, John was leading Ichirou down the hallway, then down a set of stairs. Why were they going if Ichirou didn’t need to come down this way? “This is the lower classrooms for the upper years.”

Ichirou figured their tour was over and that John would let go of him, but instead, John leads him down the hall to a classroom at the very far end. John reached for the doorknob and opened the door and pushed Ichirou inside this time. At least John had removed his hand from the back of Ichirou’s neck. They were in a science classroom, though Ichirou paused, the scent of arousal and that familiar connection to someone in this room. The only people in this room were Ichirou, badass John, and some white-haired guy sitting on a science lab table.

“For fuck sake’s.” Another voice was heard, one that sounded sweet and furious at the same time. “You couldn’t have picked someone else, Johnny.” Just then in the far corner of the room was the one person Ichirou did not want to see, Kenji.

“Well, it was either him or one of the other two. You said you didn’t want to see Hayden, and well, your brother is annoying, so I didn’t even want to see him either.” John explained himself, hopping up on to a science lab table and pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “Then it was down to a nerdy girl or this kid, I picked him instead.” Ichirou was ready to turn out and leave the classroom, but he knew running would make him a coward.

Kenji rolled his neck back. “Fuck, stop it, you dumb bitch.” He looked down his body before a teenage girl stood up. With her long black hair and dark eyes, Ichirou remembered who she was. Samantha.

“What? You’re still hard so I figured I’d suck you off.” She gave Kenji a wink as he bent down and pulled up, what Ichirou figured was his pants, as the sound of a zipper was heard.

Kenji looked like he had no emotion on his face. “Clean yourself and get going.” The sound of a hand slapping against flesh and her jumping with a smile on her face left little to the imagination as Kenji started walking towards them, running his hand through his hair and pulling out his pack of cigarettes and lighting one up with his lighter.

“Out of all the kids you saw, you figured you’d pick my blood over anything else?” Kenji was glaring at John. “It’s hard enough getting off when I was living with my old man, but bring him here ruined it for me.”

“If you don’t want me here, I’m more than glad to leave,” Ichirou spoke, his emotions were swept from his face. He could be emotionless too.

“Your blood? What are you talking about?” John asked as he looked between the two. The other in the room on a table with white hair broke out into laughter. Kenji and Ichirou both had the same look on their faces, emotionless stare, staring each other down. Ichirou had both his hands in his pockets. Kenji had one hand in his pocket, while the other held a cigarette.

Samantha came up to Kenji and kissed him on the cheek with her preppy style, and then she looked at Ichirou, before looking back at Kenji. “Oh, Kenji, it’s Mini Ka-yu. I told you he looked like you, though he looks more like your father when he’s smiling. It’s kind of sexy, don’t you think so?”

Kenji shook his head and pushed Samantha with his hand. “Get out, Sammy. I’ll fuck you later.” She smiled at Ichirou and as she passed, she kissed his cheeky and waved to the others as she left the room. Ichirou took a hand out of his pocket and wiped where she had just kissed him with the back of his hand.

“Where did you get that nickname?” Kenji asked puffing on his cigarette.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Ichirou snorted.

“I’ll give you one more chance, who named you?” Kenji had a warning tone in his voice.

“Hitsu and Lyle,” Ichirou spoke quickly. “Now can I leave?”

“Fucking upper class. Once they give you a nickname, especially with jocks, it sticks.” Kenji cursed to himself and took a step towards Ichirou. “You ain’t leaving till I make you my property. You may be blood, but I own you now. Little brothers should listen to their older brothers.” He stepped closer, and Ichirou didn’t even stand down or take a step back as Kenji put his arm around him. “Listen here, and listen hard. You get in my way once, I’ll cut off your dick. Though I won’t just cut the whole thing off at once, I’ll cut inch by inch off every time you get in my way. That gives you about seven times you can cross me, so I suggest unless you want to be dickless, don’t push me.”

“I’ve already beat you up, why not go for another round?” Ichirou snorted with his cheeky smirk on his face.

“Ah, you didn’t beat me up, I was going easy on you. That was a draw, and besides that was for beating up Ryoji. Though, I heard on Friday night that you got in Ryoji’s way as he was going to kill your redheaded friend.” Kenji looked at Ichirou with no expression. “I should count that as the first slice, but I decided I’d make you my property instead. That way if anyone fucks with you, they’ll know they are fucking with my property.” He pushed the burning end of the cigarette into Ichirou’s cheek. Ichirou didn’t even flinch.

“Like I’d ever be your property.” Ichirou snarled at the other.

Kenji got a smirk on his face, one that Ichirou knew meant trouble. He pushed Ichirou to the ground. “Pin him!” He commanded as the white hair guy grabbed one of Ichirou’s arms and John grabbed his other arm. Ichirou was just glad he had the cast-off yesterday. He had completely repaired the bone and it was no longer needed. His ability was slowly growing to mend bones together.

Ichirou felt Kenji straddle his legs and Ichirou started to struggle, trying to get his arms free, but they were stretched out and pinned to the floor there was no way to get lose from this. He felt Kenji’s hand wrap around his waist and start undoing his belt buckle. He tried to kick Kenji in the back to throw him off, but Kenji was sitting right on his knees.

“Struggle all you want, you are my property now.” Kenji’s word sounded like venom with dripping out of his mouth as the belt was freed, and then Ichirou felt two hands on the back of his pants and they were slid down over his ass. “How shall I do this?” Something was heard snapping opening and Ichirou turned his head to see the blade of a switchblade shining. Kenji brought the blade down on Ichirou’s lower back. “Property… of… Kenji’s.” He wrote on Ichirou’s lower back, cutting into Ichirou’s skin with the blade.

Ichirou felt the blade cutting out each letter and his body flinched to the feeling, the sharp sting that faded till the next one cut through more flesh. He gritted his teeth as he tried to struggle his arms free, but no luck. He had to endure it. When Kenji was done, Ichirou was glad the other was finally down.

“Now, to make it official.” Ichirou heard a zipper coming undone and he turned his head to look, Kenji was undoing his pants and pulled out his cock, the head of the cock had a piercing ring going through the pee hole and out the underside of it. “You’re going to like this. It’ll be like being fucked by your own dick, though, not quite.”

“Shouldn’t you wrap that shit? You don’t want to impregnate your own blood, Kenji.” John spoke, looking kind of disgusted.

“Islanders don’t understand us, Ichirou. Men don’t get pregnant, you buffoon.” Kenji told his friends. “Now, another thing.” Kenji reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pack of lube. “I was saving this for Hayden, but he can take it dry.” He ripped it open with his teeth and poured the whole contents of the lube on his hand and slicked up his cock.

“Fuck, don’t do this. It’s incest, you bastard.” Ichirou knew what was going to happen and he knew how painful it was going to be for him. “I’ll do whatever, but don’t fuck me.”

“Too late. I’m ready.” Kenji grabbed Ichirou’s hips with one hand and his other hand had his cock, and he pushed between Ichirou’s ass cheeks and in line directly with his entrance. Ichirou closed his eyes and looked away and tried to calm himself down by breathing slowly, but it wasn’t working as he felt the intrusion start, the stretching of his ass around Kenji’s cock. He felt the coolness of the steel from the piercing Kenji had, he felt it inside of him, till Kenji stopped.

Ichirou was panting, Kenji was panting, the only ones not panting were the white-haired guy and John. They were grinning. “Own his ass, Kenji.” The white hair guy laughed.

They were still holding Ichirou’s arms down as Kenji started slow and rubbing against Ichirou’s ass. Kenji had lifted Ichirou’s hips a bit and worked himself or rather the lube in Ichirou before anything serious happened. Ichirou felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside, he made no sound and he held back any tears from forming. He wished he was drunk, at least, or drugged. It was bringing back memories, memories he had forgotten. Those exact memories of his childhood. Why did it have to remind him that? Why was he picturing Kojima’s uncle right now? That evil perverted grin he had, the way he looked at him in the courtroom. He shivered underneath Kenji, as Kenji was going hard and fast into him. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh. There was no pleasure in this, there would never be any pleasure in receiving.

“This is what you get… For walking into my world… You dirty baby bitch.” Kenji grunted out his words, just before his hips stilled, deeply inside of Ichirou. Ichirou felt the pulsing of the cock in him. Felt the feeling of being full. He was filled to the brim with cum and he shivered again. Kenji slipped out, grabbed the back of Ichirou’s shirt and cleaned off the tip of his cock, and got up. “Release him, he’s not going anywhere.” Kenji chuckled as he put himself back in his pants and zipped up the zipper.

“Shit, it’s almost lunchtime.” The white hair guy expressed to them. “I wish you were a quickie kind of guy. This would have been over much sooner.”

“We might as well leave him here, we have to get out of the school before lunchtime,” John said, lighting up two smokes and handing one to Kenji, who was staring down at Ichirou, who was refusing to move.

Ichirou could feel Kenji’s eyes burning holes into him. He wanted to get up and run, but he wasn’t a coward who would run. He got himself into this mess he had to deal with it. No tears in his eyes and he didn’t even make a sound. He felt his body could still move, so that was a good thing. Blood smell filled the air, the blood was coming from him, where Kenji carved into his lower back.

“Get up and move your ass,” Kenji demanded at Ichirou, who let out a heavy breath. Ichirou would rather get up after they left, but they weren’t going to do that. He stood up with his back to them. He pulled up his pants and did the belt loosely around his waist and let his shirt fall on his back, covering the blood carving. He turned around, though he held his head up with a snarl on his face. “Damn, you must be made out of stone just like the old man. Not a word or a tear. I fucking love it.” Kenji clicked his tongue at Ichirou.

Kenji snapped his fingers at John and started leaving the classroom. John got the hint and grabbed the back of Ichirou’s neck and lead him down the hall with them and left the school at the end of the hall where a fire exit was and they left the school. Ichirou wasn’t having any more of this as he stopped walking beside the school and gabbed his elbow into John’s gut hard. This gave Ichirou the chance to turn around and slam his fist into the side of John’s face. He turned on his heels and headed back to the front entrance of the school.

“Fucking asshole. Aren’t you going to put him in his place, Kenji?” John was holding his jaw, as he was moving his tongue in his mouth.

Kenji shook his head. “No, he gets it. He’s my property now and no one should touch him. Guess that even means you guys can’t touch him.” He smirked.

“Fuck, he punched out my tooth.” John pulled out a molar tooth to show them.

“He definitely has my old man’s strength.” Kenji nodded his head. “Now, stop being a baby bitch, we have shit to do.”

Ichirou made his way to the front of the school, though he regretted his choice, so he stuffed his hands into his pockets and just kept on walking. Niko was there with Kojima, Hitsu, and even Darius, Dameian, and Leon. He just kept walking, he made up his mind he was walking home, no matter what.

“Ichirou!” Niko came running up to him. “Hey, you’ll never guess what happened.” He smiled sweetly at Ichirou, but Ichirou didn’t even acknowledge him and kept walking. “Hey, Ichirou?” Niko stopped and blinked, there was a scent of blood in the air.

“What’s up with him? That’s not like him to ignore anyone.” Leon came up to Niko and put his arm around his shoulders.

“He’s bleeding. Look.” Kojima pointed out the blood droplets on the cement and they all looked at Ichirou and could see the blood on the back of his black leather pants.

“How? What the hell happened?” Hitsu asked, before looking in the direction Ichirou came from and seen three familiar figures walking away from the school. He nudged Kojima’s shoulder. “I can give you a guess what happened if he had John as a tour guide. “

Niko sighed with a frown on his face. Ichirou had a run-in with Kenji and on the first day of school, no less.


	42. Chapter 42

The next morning Ichirou woke up early before his alarm even went off. Yesterday he came home drank a blood package, Mizuki wasn’t home yet, so he went for a shower. He saw his back in the mirror, saw the bruising and handprints of Kenji’s actions on him and even the slowly healing carving in his back. That wouldn’t stay long as Ichirou closed his eyes and got to healing his lower back. He repaired the damage and all that was left was smooth flawless skin. If only if he was as flawless as he could make his skin.

What Kenji did to him didn’t phase him anymore. Those memories surfaced, but that’s all they were memories of his past, not his future. He had a shower, and after he started making everyone else supper. They asked how his day was and he spoke like nothing happen. He had his water at supper time as everyone ate. Mizuki said he might have a job coming up, but he would have to see in the next few days. Ichirou went to bed early that night, which is why he up so early.

Not wasting any time, he got dressed in ripped jeans and a black t-shirt, putting his gothic style cross around his neck. He looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He didn’t sleep well and it showed around his eyes. The darkness around his eyes made his usual dark red eyes turn brighter red. He didn’t care.

Grabbing a zipper hoodie from the closet, he put it on and put the hood up, but didn’t do up the zipper as he left his room. No one was up, everyone was still asleep. If he hadn’t left his phone in his backpack at school, he would have texted his father, maybe not tell his father what happened, but he knew his father was probably awake right about now. He grabbed a blood package from the fridge, sucked it back fast, and threw it out in the trash.

It was early, but Ichirou was leaving now. He would walk to school, he would make it just as everyone was getting there. Putting on his converse shoes, he left the condominium suite and took his time, walking down the stairs. Though the elevator would have been quicker, he didn’t feel like trying to be quick. He wanted to take his time.

When he got to the street, he shoved his hands in his pants pockets and continued his walk. It was peaceful, to say the least. No one was out on the street yet, no one would be out and stare at him for being out this early. He was just a school kid after all. He was a teenager.

On his way, he replayed the day in his head and realized if he would have been a coward and ran, none of that would have happened. Though today was a new day, he couldn’t keep trying to change the past. He wishes he could have changed it, but that was next to impossible. He needed to live in the present now and change his future actions. He let out a sigh as he realized he had made it to the high school, after passing by the elementary school he went to last years, a few blocks behind him.

No one was there yet, except for a few cars, probably teacher cars. He walked up to the school and tried the front doors, one was unlocked, so he walked in. Not watching out for anyone, Ichirou made his way to his locker, where he could hear his alarm going off. He smirked to himself and opened the locker, before reaching in for the backpack and taking his mobile phone out.

Ichirou shut off the alarm and looked at his phone to see quite a few text messages from Leon, Dameian, Darius, Niko, and from his father. Shutting the locker and leaning against it, he opened up his messages, realized they all tried to call him quite a few times yesterday. He swiped away the notifications and dialed his father’s number. After two rings, the other end was picked up.

“Morning, son.” It was his father on the other end.

“Hey, father. How’s it going?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you should tell me why Niko and Kojima were calling me last night freaking out about you bleeding and thinking Kenji had a hand in it.”

“It’s nothing. You know I wouldn’t purposely bleed out.”

“That’s not the point. Did you have a run-in with Kenji?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t my choice. First-Year students were given Sixth-Year students as tour guides and mine just happened to be a buddy of Kenji’s and yeah, lead me to him, but nothing happened. Unless you count threatening to slice my cock an inch off at a time if I crossed him.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it past him to actually do that. He’s my son after all, though, he’s not my replica.”

“Yeah, so that’s all that happened.”

“No, it isn’t. Ichirou, you were bleeding, your friends all saw it and are thinking the worse, though what they don’t realize is their worse isn’t as bad as what Kenji does.”

Sighing, Ichirou closed his eyes. “Fine, he carved his name into my back, claiming that I was his property now and he wants to make sure that if anyone tries to fuck with me, they’ll have to deal with him.”

Kazayuki snorted on the other end. “That’s a fucked up way of saying I’ll help you brother whenever you need it. Though, I take it you fixed that mess on your back.”

“Yeah, I did. I’m not his property or his little brother that needs protection.”

“Good, keep it that way. Kenji doesn’t do anything for anyone unless he wants something in return.”

“Then explain to me how we are like you, personality-wise. You're not a selfish bastard who tortures for fun.”

“Ichirou, I’ve been around for many centuries, and let’s just say Kenji is the demon child I once was. I raised you so you didn’t turn out like that. Though, I know when push comes to shove, you will turn. That’s what I realized from the aftermath of your fight. You both were holding back, you weren’t pushed to kill him, because he wasn’t aiming to kill you. As long as Kenji keeps his word that he won’t kill you, for however long that is going to last, you should be fine.”

“I highly doubt he will keep his word for long.” Ichirou chuckled softly.

“You wouldn’t be wrong. Well, just survive this week till I come home. I’m going to plan something where I have both of you in the same room as me. I think we need to sit down and talk.”

“Good luck with that. He takes one step towards me, I’m not holding back.”

“I know.” Kazayuki laughed lightly. “Well, I’ll let you go, school is getting ready to open soon.”

“Okay. Love you father.”

“I love you too, Ichirou.”

Ichirou hung up the phone and pushed off of the lockers. He looked at his phone, getting two new texts. He opened them up and they were from Niko.

*From: Niko - Ichi, goin 2 skool soon*

*From: Niko - U need ride?*

*From: Ichirou - At school already. Forgot phone at school*

Ichirou smirked as he put his phone in his back pocket and pulled his hood down farther on his face as he left out the front entrance doors. He saw a few students standing outside, not heading inside. And they looked at Ichirou as he left the school. This left questioning looks on their faces, and Ichirou didn’t care about the smirk that was already on his face.

He walked over to a planter that was near the parking lot and sat down, pulling out his phone again. Niko had texted back they were on their way. Though Ichirou decided to text Leon and the twins that he was sorry that he left his phone at school yesterday. He pocketed his phone again as a dark car pulled up in front of where Ichirou was sitting, and a red truck parked beside the dark car. Hitsu and Lyle were in the dark car, with two others in the back seat. Niko jumped out of the truck that Kojima was driving and came up to Ichirou, hugging him.

“What happened yesterday? We have our suspicions that Kenji got a hold of you. Do you know who Kenji is?” They were all looking at him, as Ichirou saw from the corner of his eye that Ryoji and Hayden were in the backseat of the car and were now walking away slowly.

“I know who Kenji is. We already fought, just ask Kojima.” Ichirou nodded his head at Kojima.

“What?” Lyle looked at Kojima with a shocking face. “Was this why you were at the hospital with Kenji that night? I thought you said Kenji got into a bad motorcycle accident.” Kojima was nodding his head.

“No, that was our cover story.” Kojima got a grin on his face. “The punk and Kenji had it out with each other, I was just taking Kenji to see his dad drop something off, and the next thing I knew Kazayuki was knocking on my window and asked why I was there. Then we both clued into what was going on. We rush the apartment and they both were battered and broken, but still fighting.”

Ichirou could still sense that Ryoji and Hayden were standing not far enough away to not hear their conversation. “Do you two have anything better to do than eavesdrop on our conversation?” He turned his body around to watch the two look at Ichirou in surprise and start walking away. “Man, Ryoji thinks his nephew can protect him, but he can’t protect him from me.” He chuckled, though he was the only one chuckling. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“Nephew? Who’s Ryoji’s nephew?” Hitsu asked as that was the question on their mind.

Ichirou smacked himself in the head. “Damn, I forgot, none of you really know how Ryoji and Kenji are related.” He shook his head, and they waited for Ichirou's explanation. “Ryoji has a sister, much older sister, my father fucked her, she became pregnant with Kenji. She’s a cracked out whore for all I know and Ryoji’s parents took Kenji in and raised him as a son with Ryoji. That’s why Ryoji calls him his foster brother or brother.”

“Oh wow. That’s some funny shit. Uncle calling nephew to clean up his messes.” Lyle laughed, getting what Ichirou was laughing about earlier. Ichirou chuckled as Niko put an arm around Ichirou’s waist, Ichirou could feel the eyes of Kojima burning into him. He looked at Kojima and Kojima looked away.

“You know you should watch yourself, Ichirou. Kenji isn’t someone to mess with, he could seriously hurt you.” Niko gave a worried look to Ichirou.

“Niko, if there is one thing I know, Kenji is my father’s son.” Ichirou gave Niko a soft smirk. “Kenji and I have no limit in strength when we fight each other, we will push each other till it falls into a draw. No matter what the final blow will kill us both and neither of us wants to die.”

“You sound like you knew this guy all your life, but it’s only been what- a few days?” Hitsu shook his head. “We have been in the same school with him for two years, not including this year. He’s not that easy to read, Mini Ka-yu.”

“Now, about that nickname.” Ichirou stood up. “Mini Ka-yu. You are calling me a mini version of my father because I am his replica. What my father knows, I know. Plus, my father already explained it to me this morning.”

“Don’t get yourself killed,” Kojima warned. “I don’t want to be the one telling you I told you so.”

“If I’m dead, you really can’t say that to me.” Ichirou chuckled.

“I’ll say it at your funeral. I’ll just stand up there and say I told you so.” Kojima grinned at Ichirou, his attitude wasn’t sour towards Ichirou, as Ichirou wasn’t making a move on Niko, it was just Niko’s friendly behavior towards Ichirou. Ichirou was used to Niko’s behavior and he allowed it. Though, if he was drinking, he would be giving back the same attention. He felt more comfortable doing it when he was drunk.

Leon showed up to school with Dameian and Darius and there was some small talk, before the school bell rang and everyone when inside to grab their binders for class, Ichirou had to grab his schedule as well and realized he had to go upstairs to the Class B classrooms for History. This was going to be an easy class for him, as long the history was about the mainland and not the island.

As he got into the class and walked to the back of the classroom, sitting down, as there was no assigned seating, Ichirou looked at the door and saw Kenji walking into the class. He mentally groaned to himself. He remembered his father telling him Kenji was two years higher than him, but the first three years were combined. This meant he had a class with Kenji.

Of course, with his luck with Kenji, the deck to his right was open. The only one left. Kenji walked down the aisle, everyone had hushed up when he entered the room. Ichirou pulled his hood down more over his face, though that wouldn’t stop Kenji from sensing their connection. If Ichirou could feel it, Kenji could too.

Kenji stopped right in front of Ichirou. “You’re sitting at my desk.” He spoke with a demanding tone in his soft voice. He was pretty sure Kenji would make a better singer than a drug dealer.

“I got here first, you can sit at that desk.” Ichirou didn’t look up at him and pointed to the desk beside him. There were a few gasps heard in the classroom.

“I like to sit in the corner desk, so I suggest you get up or I’ll make you.” Kenji clicked his tongue at Ichirou.

“Make me and I’m sure that it won’t end very pretty either of us,” Ichirou said, as a smirk came to his face. Even his fists were getting ready for a fight. He was finding it to be exciting to use his fists like he needed to fight and wanted to fight, and Kenji was the perfect opponent.

Kenji got low and flipped Ichirou’s hood off his head and pressed his lips close to Ichirou’s ear. “Better move or I’ll cut off that inch I was talking about.” Ichirou rolled his eyes as he felt Kenji smirk against his ear.

Ichirou grabbed his binder and got up from the desk and Kenji was about to sit down as Ichirou walked away, but Ichirou dragged his foot to hook on the desk and just as Kenji was sitting, the table of the desk was pushed hard into Kenji’s chest, that he slipped from the seat and fell to the floor hitting his chin on the desk tabletop. Ichirou looked back and seen his in a pretty funny position, and he smirked. Others in the room, their eyes grew large, and the scent of fear was washing over them.

“Fucking twat.” Kenji clawed out from the awkward position he was in, and stood up and grabbed Ichirou’s shirt, pulling back his fist.

“Alright class, welcome to a new school year.” The teacher had walked in, and Kenji narrowed his eyes at Ichirou. “Boys, please take your seats.” Kenji dropped his hands from Ichirou, never getting that punch in, and returned to the desk he had taken from Ichirou. Ichirou took the empty desk beside Kenji. “Thank you, now welcome to the new school year. For those joining us this year, this is History Class B. There isn’t any difference between Class A and Class C, we teach different parts of history. The only class you will have with all the First Year students is Language Class A. That goes for the rest of you unless you flunk last year. Now to begin, we will be starting our lesson on…”

Ichirou sighed. It was something he already knew about. He would have to thank his father for all the knowledge in history he had gathered in his years. He put his hood up and slouched in his desk and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Psst.” Ichirou heard coming from his left, so he lifted his head. He knew it Kenji. “You better listen up, and pay attention, not everything is taught from the book.”

Ichirou snorted, he didn’t need to be taught this lesson, he knew more about it than the teacher probably did. He was just glad he could sleep in class if he was really tired like he was now. And having a nap never seemed better.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I have been slacking.  
> Though, don't worry. I got Chapters to post for all those who are still reading!

During History class, they were given an assignment sheet and Ichirou rolled his eyes as he filled it out completely. History was easy, what the teacher told them to do was read the next chapter and fill out the questions, though, for Ichirou, he didn’t need to read the next chapter. Once the bell rang for the switching of classes, Ichirou walked up to the desk with his paper filled out and placed it down.

“Hold on there.” The teacher said as he looked over the work Ichirou had finished in his class. “There is one mistake. You put your first name but not your last. In high school, you have to put both down, because not every teacher is going to know who you are or what work belongs to which student of the same name.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes and he wrote his last name down, he’d rather not have the last name at this point in his life. The teacher took the paperback and looked up at Ichirou, a flash of fear crossed his face. Though, Ichirou didn’t understand why till someone reached around him and placed the same work assignment Ichirou had completed on the teacher's desk, fully completed too.

“You have to write your full name down, dumbass.” Kenji’s soft-sounding voice was heard behind Ichirou. “Even if you are the only Ichi in the school.” He chuckled softly, before turning and walking out of the classroom.

“He is right. So, just remember that for your next classes. And remove your hood.” The teacher said as he looked at both of the completed assignments. Ichirou pulled his hood down and was about to walk away. “Ichirou, I know you are sitting beside Kenji, but you two better stop copying each other’s work.” The teacher looked up at Ichirou, who turned around and his dark red eyes narrowed at the teacher.

“I don’t copy shit. Blame that guy.” Ichirou growled slightly. The teacher’s lips formed a straight line on his face, fear was presented in his eyes but he was trying to assert authority with Ichirou. “Give me all the exams we have to do this year and I’ll prove to you I don’t copy shit and I’ll pass this class with straight A’s.”

The teacher shook his head and waved Ichirou away. Ichirou left the classroom and looked at his schedule again. Math Class A. He had to get downstairs. This walking was going to be a pain in his ass. He put his hood back on his head and made his way down the stairs, turning to the right and going down the hallway that leads to the Class A classrooms and the gym. He looked for the math class and stepped into the room. He looked around and seen his friends sitting in the far back corner from the door. Dameian sat in the corner seat, with Darius in front of him. Leon was sitting at the desk next to Darius’ desk, across the aisle. There was a binder already on the desk behind Leon, as Ichirou made his way over.

“Hey, saved you a seat.” Leon turned to see Ichirou standing there, about to take the desk beside Leon. Leon removed the binder from the desk behind him and Ichirou nodded his head.

“How’s school so far, Ichirou?” Darius asked, turned towards him. He was wearing pants once again, though he wore a tank top.

“Could be better. I already hate History.” Ichirou chuckled softly. “What about you guys?”

“I’m partnered up with a nerdy girl in science class.” Leon snorted. “I might as well let her do all the work as she gave me a list of rules I have to follow during class with her.” He showed them the paper that had jot notes for what Leon should be doing, created by his partner. Not from the teacher.

“Well, Dameian and I are stuck together. The teacher was so happy to have twins in her science class again, she put us together because she figures we would excel at being partners.” Darius rolled his eyes.

Dameian grinned, flashing his fangs. “Don’t worry, you do all the paperwork and I’ll do all the hands-on stuff.” He laughed as Darius shot him a glare.

A smirk appeared on Ichirou’s face, before that connection, that same connection entered the room. He groaned and put his head down on the desk, covering himself up with his hood up over his head. Why was he here? Why was he being tortured to deal with him?

The class became quiet as Kenji walked in, a few First Year students were still talking in whispers as Kenji walked passed them, a smirk on his face as he headed towards Ichirou and the others. He walked down the far aisle to the very back, where Dameian was sitting at the corner desk. Ichirou could feel the uneasy tension radiating off of everyone.

“Move it,” Kenji spoke, and Dameian scrambled his books and got out of the desk. The only other desk opened was the one beside Leon in the third row. Darius was feeling uneasy about having Kenji sitting behind him. Ichirou sighed and got up.

“Take my seat, Dameian,” Ichirou said as he got up and walked over to Darius. “You sit on the other side of Leon.” Darius didn’t think twice as he got up with his books and walked quickly past Dameian and Kenji and went to sit on the other side of Leon.

Ichirou took the desk right in front of Kenji, who clicked his tongue. “My, you just can’t escape me, can you? Maybe it’s destiny.” Kenji laughed, dryly.

Ichirou turned around and narrowed his eyes at Kenji. He was about to say something as the teacher came in and cleared her throat. “Alright class, welcome to Mathematics Class A. Most of you here are new to this school, so I will introduce myself as well as review what we will be learning this year.” Ichirou turned around and slouched in his seat, with his arms crossed over his chest. This year was turning out to be hell for him.

* * *

When the class was over, Leon stood up as Ichirou got up. “Hey, man. We’ll meet for lunch by the lockers. Sound good to you?” He looked behind Ichirou at Kenji. Kenji was still sitting there. Ichirou could feel Kenji’s eyes on him.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan,” Ichirou smirked. Though, just as he was about to walk away, Kenji came up behind him and slapped his hand on Ichirou’s shoulder.

“I wonder what class you have next,” Kenji whispered in his ear. “It wouldn’t happen to be Science C, now would it?” Ichirou didn’t even have to look at his schedule now, he knew the other was right. It was in Science C.

“What do you want?” Ichirou turned around, the students were leaving, except a few who were staying behind to watch the scene. Leon and Dameian were among those watching.

“I just want to get to know you better.” Kenji looked Ichirou up and down with his eyes. He pulled back the hood that Ichirou had up. A few whispers were heard from some of the older students. “You shouldn’t cover up that pretty face from the world,” Kenji said as if he was talking to a baby, with his hand gripping Ichirou’s jaw, hard.

“You are going to piss me off.” Ichirou gritted his teeth together.

Kenji laughed softly in his face. “Oh, but remember, I own you. Cross me and I’m taking an inch off.”

“Already down to six now, I guess I could handle being five,” Ichirou smirked.

“Oh, keeping track of how much I have to take off? Aren’t you being a good boy?” Kenji smirked and tapped Ichirou’s cheek a few times. “Better get to class, you don’t want to be stuck being my science partner.” Kenji moved past Ichirou and students made way for him to exit the classroom as gossiping whispers started. Ichirou flipped his hood back up over his head and covering most of his face.

Leon and Dameian walked up to Ichirou as he was leaving the classroom. “What was that all about? Did you know how similar you two look?” Dameian went on. “That’s the guy everyone is saying to stay away from. He’s bad news, man.” Leon looked worried.

“Yeah, I know.” Ichirou stopped in the hallway. “So far I have all my classes with him. If I have Language class with him, I’m going to lose my shit.”

Leon shook his head. “You don’t. All the First Years have Class A, Second Years have Class B, and the Third Year has Class C. If by some random leap of faith Kenji failed Class A twice, you should have that class without him.”

“Good, now I better get to science class and get a partner that isn’t him.” Ichirou waved Dameian farewell, as Leon and he walked upstairs. “What class do you have next?”

Leon grinned. “I have History C. I know I’m going to fail that. I was never good at remembering things like you.”

“I’ll tutor the big jock for a price.” Ichirou hinted with a joke. They laughed as they both walked down the Class C hallway. Their classes were direct across from another. So Ichirou turned right into his class and Leon turned left into the other classroom.

Ichirou walked in and was handed a piece of paper from the teacher. “Welcome, please go find a lab.” Ichirou looked at the paper, it was an outline for the class. He looked around and seen a few students, placed in the center of the classroom sitting on stools behind a lab table, alone. He wasn’t going to pick a lab at the back of the classroom or on the edge of the classroom. So, right there in the front and center of the classroom was a girl sitting on a stool. He moved and sat down beside her.

“Uh, excuse me?” The girl turned to face Ichirou. She seemed to have a stuck up attitude. “Did I say you could sit here?”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, but you are going to let me.” He turned towards her, still covering his face with his hood. “Let me sit here and I’ll do all your work, while you talk to your friends behind us.”

The girl snorted. “Yeah right, I’m not letting my grades slip because you do all the work.”

“I’ll get you A’s.” Ichirou was trying to wheel and deal with her.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “What does E=mc^2 mean?”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.”

“Nerd much?” She giggled a bit with her friends that giggled as well behind them. “Fine, you sit here and do all the work.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He was glad he got this table, front and center. And he was glad he got a partner who wasn’t someone he disliked. Stuck up snobby girls were better than him.

The teacher walked to the front of the class, after shutting the door and clear his throat. “Welcome to Science C. Looking at the attendance sheet we only have two First Year students in this class. I won’t go through the whole welcoming speech as all of you have heard it already. I have handed each of you an outline and knowing who you are and who you are friends with, I have decided to put you together with other students, rather than letting you pick who your partners are. You will notice a number on the right-hand side of the sheet. You may now go find your matching number with the other students.”

Looking down at his sheet, Ichirou saw the number the teacher was talking about and the girl beside him looked at his number and got up. She didn’t have his number, though Ichirou was not moving from his seat as everyone walked around and by. Ichirou was hoping for someone to sit beside him, though no one had his number.

When everyone was paired off, and sitting at their labs with their new lab partners, the door to the classroom opened and Kenji walked in. “Mr. Matsumoto, I have told you before to not come to my class late.” The teacher spoke. “This is your first and only warning. Next time you will be spending after school with me.”

“Whatever.” Kenji had a not caring kind of look on his face and the teacher handed him an outline.

“Go sit with the young lad at the front of the class. It’s the only open spot left.” The teacher pointed towards Ichirou. Kenji looked and a smirk appeared on his face. Ichirou mentally groaned to himself. Fate was having it out with him today.

“Hey, partner.” Kenji walked over, speaking loudly. Ichirou's shoulders slouched in defeat.

“Take your seat, Mr. Matsumoto and we shall begin with a review on what you know so far, answer what you can, as I come around and take names.” The teacher started handing out worksheets to the front of the classroom. Kenji took the sheets from the teacher, placed one in front of himself and one in front of Ichirou, and passed them back.

Ichirou took the worksheet and put his right elbow up and turned his body away from Kenji and he took out a pencil and started filling it in. This would be easy, most of this he knew and some of it he learned in elementary school. Yes, school work was easy for Ichirou, he had a brain filled with useless information, thanks to his father’s knowledge and stuff he already learned about in elementary school books.

Kenji was sitting beside him, tapping his pencil on the desk, not doing anything else, as the teacher came up to them both. “Alright, Mr. Matsumoto is here, and you are?”

Ichirou looked up at the teacher. “Ichirou.”

“Please remove your hood in my class, Ichirou.” The teacher was looking at his attendance sheet. Ichirou didn’t move. “Here you are, Ichirou Ma…” He paused and looked up at Ichirou.

“Matsumoto,” Kenji said in a singsong voice. “His name is Ichirou Matsumoto.” The class kind of became silent at his words.

The teacher nodded his head. “Are there any relations between you two?”

As quickly as he could, Ichirou spoke first. “No, none at all.” It might have seemed a bit suspicious, but he didn’t want Kenji saying there was something between them, that they were blood-related.

“Right.” The teacher said, not believing him. Shit, this wasn’t good. “I asked you to remove your hood in my class, Mr. Matsumoto.”

“I’m not wearing a hood,” Kenji spoke cheeky to the teacher. Ichirou wanted to smirk as the teacher sighed. It was true, Kenji wasn’t wearing a hood, but Ichirou was. With the teacher using only their surnames when he addressed them, this was going to be interesting.

“Mr. Matsumoto C, I was not addressing you.” The teacher replied. “Mr. Matsumoto A, please remove your hood now.” The teacher found a loophole. Ichirou pulled his hood down and the teacher raised his brows at Ichirou's features.

Ichirou was looking off down at the table, as Kenji was sitting there with a smirk on his face. “We aren’t related, teacher. We just have similar styles.” Kenji clicked his tongue.

“Right.” The teacher spoke, not believing him either. And he continued the class.

Ichirou looked over at Kenji. “How can I get away from you?” Ichirou mumbled low enough that only Kenji could hear him.

“Easy. Drop out.” Kenji snorted. “I like it here, and you’re new here, so you should just drop out.”

“You like school? Yeah, right.” Ichirou rolled his eyes and got back to working on the worksheet, bent over his work.

Kenji scooted his stool closer to Ichirou. “How about you give some answers?”

Ichirou sat up straight and turned towards Kenji. “How about you answer what you already should know? That’s the whole point of this.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like to read.” Kenji gave a fake whine. “If you read out the questions for me, I’ll answer them, in my own words.”

“I’m not your aide or your property. I’m not a bitch you can tell what to do. So, no. Do your own work.” Ichirou turned back around, cover his paper with his back to Kenji as he finished filling it out.

“You are a real asshole, you know? Just like the old man.” Kenji crossed his arms over his chest as he leans back on the stool, against the lab table behind him. “Always telling me what to do.”

“Maybe if you acted like a decent person, he wouldn’t be telling you what to do,” Ichirou grumbled. He was thinking about switching classes now. There was a guidance counselor at the school here, so maybe if he talked to them about changing classes, he could get out of the classes he had with Kenji.

“This coming from the person that lived with him his whole life.” Kenji rocked his stool forward and got closer to Ichirou. “It’s because of you I didn’t have a father figure to look up to. Besides, I do what I want when I want to, and your ass has my name on it.”

Ichirou snorted. “You can blame me all you want, but it’s your mother’s fault he didn’t know about you. Remember, she had you for the simple reason of giving her father an heir to his fortune. If you were born with a pussy, then she might have told him about you, but you got a dick between your legs.” Ichirou wasn’t going to say anything about Kenji carving his name into him from yesterday. He fixed that last night and he didn’t want to give Kenji another reason to cut his dick off.

“You know nothing about it,” Kenji growled low in Ichirou’s ear. “Old man knew about me, told her to get an abortion. She only ran away from him and gave birth to me and passed me along to her father to hide me from the old man.”

Ichirou shook his head. “That’s what you were told to believe.” Ichirou turned around and faced Kenji. “How cracked out is your mother? I bet she didn’t even notice she was pregnant till you started coming out of her vagina. I think she even had you in the dumpster in a back alley because you still smell like trash.”

Kenji’s face changed right before Ichirou’s eyes. It got darker and furious looking that Ichirou was too caught up with the change in Kenji’s face that he didn’t notice the fist coming for him till it hit the side of his jaw. Though it didn’t stop there, Kenji stood up, knocking the stool to the floor and grabbed Ichirou’s head, and started smashing his face into the lab table a few times.

Ichirou used his hands to push himself back away from the lab table, and elbow Kenji in the gut before he quickly turned and kneed Kenji in the face when Ichirou grabbed Kenji’s head to bring it down on his knee. He grabbed Kenji by the neck and swung his fist into Kenji’s face a few times, feeling Kenji’s nose bust open from his hits.

Kenji was about to grab Ichirou when he was pulled back by the teacher and two male students pulled Ichirou back away from Kenji. “That is enough you two. What is going on here?” The teacher demanded to know. Though, Kenji was seething with rage as his nose bled and Ichirou was panting hard as blood was running down his face. “Both of you, to the office now.”

When the teacher released Kenji and the two boys released Ichirou, Kenji grabbed for Ichirou, as Ichirou went about swinging his left fist into the side of Kenji’s head. Kenji was holding onto Ichirou, and he managed to swing his leg behind Ichirou and both of them fell to the floor, Ichirou on his back and Kenji over top of him. The action gave Ichirou a surprise for a second, it was enough time for Kenji to turn around and start punching his fist into Ichirou’s face.

The teacher once again pulled Kenji off of Ichirou, but this time he was dragging the other out of the classroom as the other two male students who had let go of Ichirou were holding him back from rushing out of the classroom to go after Kenji. Ichirou’s sight became red.

“Mini Ka-yu, settle down, man.” Ichirou heard one of the guys telling him. He couldn’t register the voice, but in the back of his head, he knew who it was. It was the one holding him back, as the other stood in front of Ichirou, pinning his shoulder’s back.

“Shit, he’s out for blood, Juan.” The one in front of him spoke, struggling to keep Ichirou in place as Ichirou was pulling the one called Juan behind him, towards the door. Ichirou growled loudly.

The two struggled to keep Ichirou in the classroom, that when the teacher came back, with claw-like marks ripping his shirt open, he pushed what was a small blood package into Ichirou’s face, who instantly bit down on the plastic and blood flowed into his mouth. Ichirou’s red hash over his eyes became clear. He was settling down, he was no longer growling and the small blood package was empty now. Ichirou was panting, as he blinked his eyes and looked at the teen male in front of his, who had claw marks on his arms.

The world was starting to register to him, the two teens that were holding him back were football players that Ichirou played poker with at Kojima’s place. Juan and Daisuke. Daisuke had the claw marks that Ichirou inflicted on him. The whole classroom was radiating the scent of fear coming from every student there.

“Mr. Matsumoto, I will escort you down to the office when they call.” The teacher told Ichirou. “It seems there is some high tension between the two of you that needs to be resolved, but that will be for a later day. For now, you will sit back at your table, and wait till the office calls for you, as the other Mr. Matsumoto needs to be escorted off school property first.”

Ichirou nodded his head and walked back over to where his lab table was in the front center of the classroom and picked up his stool and sat down. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes as he brought his hand up to his face. He repaired the broken and bleeding nose he had, even though he had nothing to clean the blood up with.

The teacher resumed going about the class, as other students finished their worksheets with whispers behind Ichirou’s back, literally. He didn’t care. He knew what was coming to him, he knew this was going to cost him. Kenji was going to cut his dick off for sure and he wouldn’t put it past the other to do just that. Well, Ichirou figured he had a good life, he got laid, he fucked twins and he fucked Niko and came.

The teacher made his way to the front of the class and started going through the outline he handed out and answered any questions the students had, until a couple of police officers came up to the classroom and knocked on the door.

“Sorry to interrupt your class.” One of the officers apologized to the teacher. “We are here to grab Mr. Ichirou Matsumoto.” The teacher nodded his head and pointed towards Ichirou. “Thank you, may you please come with us, Mr. Matsumoto.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes, grabbed his binder, leaving the worksheet behind, and put his hood up. He walked towards the police officers. He wasn’t even going to question why they were there. It was clear it had something to do with Kenji and that was it.

Outside the classroom, the police officers stopped Ichirou in the hall and turned towards him. “We have an understanding you had a confrontation with Mr. Kenji Matsumoto. Is there anything you wish to say about it?”

Ichirou looked at the two officers, he blinked and then looked away with a roll of his eyes. “What is there to say? We had a disagreement and fought. Nothing unusual about that.”

“Hmm.” The one officer hummed. “That is exactly what he said too. Are you sure there wasn’t some underlining issue? This is Mr. Kenji Matsumoto we are talking about and if he is holding something about your head, you best tell us what it is. Do you owe him money? Did he do something to you? Did he cause-”

“How much simpler can I get? We had a disagreement, we fought it out like a couple of kids, end of discussion.” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest. “If you’re not here to escort me out of the school, can I go back to class then?”

The officers both looked at each other with puzzled looks. “You know something,” The other police officer spoke. “That’s another thing that he said exactly. Are you two related somehow? You both have similar appearances, attitudes, and even spoke the same words to us. Have a mind connection or something?”

Ichirou smirked. “No, we have no connection to each other. Probably the reason why we disagreed. We are so much alike, we butt heads.” If he was speaking the same words as Kenji, then it was true how much like Kazayuki they were. Even if Ichirou wanted to deny it, Kenji was related to him.

“Alright.” The police officers both looked at each other and the one turned to Ichirou. “Well, you should probably go wash up. After you can either return to class or wait for the lunch bell as it’s about that time.” The officer looked at his watch.

“We can’t take Kenji out of the school, as you are not filing a formal report. I’m sure he will be happy about that.” The other officer spoke. “We suggest you two keep your disagreements to a peaceful level, or else the next time we come in here, we will be taking you both down to the station. What happened between the two of you was described as more than just a disagreement fight.”

Ichirou nodded his head. He was sure there was no way for either of them to have a peaceful disagreement. Ichirou was itching to fight and he was sure Kenji wanted the same thing. The officers left after they said farewell to Ichirou and Ichirou walked to the boys' washroom on the other side of the cafeteria.

Opening the door, he walked up to the sink and looked at himself in the mirror, his face was bloodied, blood around his nose and mouth, even down his chin and neck. His shirt was bloodied too. He let out a sigh and reached for some paper towel and got to work cleaning up his face and neck. He spent the rest of the time cleaning himself up, that when he finished the school bell rang. It was lunchtime already and he could hear voices getting closer.

Ichirou walked out of the boys' washroom and made his way through the crowd of students in the cafeteria as he was headed back down the stairs to the lockers.


	44. Chapter 44

“Hey, Ichirou.” Leon waved as Ichirou came to the area where the lockers for all the students were placed in one area. “Whoa, what happened to your shirt?” Even though Ichirou wore a black shirt, it still didn’t help hide the fact there was blood on it.

“You had a bleeding nose or something?” Dameian asked who was also wondering.

“No, just a little fight, nothing serious,” Ichirou smirked and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m going to put my binder away and we can go.” Ichirou walked over to where his locker was, opened it up and threw his binder inside, and locked it up. He turned around to see that Darius was standing with the other two now.

“Say, how about we go try the cafeteria food?” Leon asked them.

“Loved to, but Dameian and I don’t have money and our mama packed us a lunch.” Darius held up two brown paper bags they had always used for lunches at school.

“Suit yourselves.” Leon shrugged his shoulders and turned to Ichirou. “I’m not even going to bother asking you. You’re just a bloodsucker.” Leon laughed as he put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders and all four of them headed to the staircase and walked to the cafeteria.

Once inside the cafeteria, they searched for a table as Leon went to line up for food. Ichirou had his hood upon his head as he walked with the twins and they found an open table. Ichirou sat down on one side with an open seat beside him and Dameian and Darius took up the other side in front of him. The table was long and could fit six students on each side, so the other end of the table sat a group of seven girls talking to themselves.

Darius gave Dameian his lunch and they both opened them up to pull out a can of soda and a sandwich. Ichirou realized he should have grabbed himself water at least. Healing his nose didn’t make him dizzy, but he felt thirsty. Leon came back to the table and sat down, with a tray. On that tray was a water bottle, a juice box, a plate of chicken strips and fries.

“I’m taking your water.” Ichirou reached over and took the water bottle off Leon’s tray.

“Dude, if you wanted water you should have gotten your own.” Leon laughed as he picked up a chicken stripe and took a bite. “How was your last class, you guys?” He was talking to Dameian and Darius.

“Gym class was alright, I guess. All boys, so it was a bit more embarrassing for Darius.” Dameian snorted as he took another bite of his sandwich.

Darius rolled his eyes. “I don’t like the idea of having to undress in front of others. It’s weird for me.” He sighed. “I had to change in the washroom stalls, to which I was bugged by a few of the Second Year boys about being part female.”

“Want me to beat the crap out of them?” Ichirou smirked as he took a sip from the water bottle he stole from Leon.

“You’re joking, right?” Darius raised his brows. “I don’t want you acting violently on my behalf.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I was only joking.” He chuckled slightly. “Though, if you wanted me to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m going to protect you and if I have to knock a few heads in to keep bullies off your back, I’ll do it.”

“You’re fucking raw, Ichirou.” Leon laughed with Dameian. Darius just sat there and shook his head.

Ichirou sat there as they talked about their classes, though, Ichirou could hear more than just his friends. Even the girls at the other end of the table were gossiping.

“-the cops showed up. I think Kenji and that other kid are kicked out.” One of the girls said.

“Did you notice how the other kid looked? He could pass as Kenji’s twin almost.” Another said.

Though it just wasn’t them gossiping, Ichirou could hear the kids behind him talking. “Damn, Kenji is going to kick that kid’s ass for sure. He won’t know what hit him.”

“Yeah, after Kenji fell on the floor from the desk, I was sure he was going to punch that kid.”

Ichirou was smirking, trying to keep up with the conversation with his friends, but he felt every muscle in his body tense up as more words about him and Kenji were heard.

“Did you see Kenji at the end of the second period?”

“Yeah, I stayed to watch the fight. I thought for sure they were going to fight when Kenji grabbed that kid’s face.”

“They did fight. In the third period, I heard. Cops were called and everything.”

“No way! I bet that kid is in the hospital now if he fought against Kenji.”

Ichirou couldn’t take any more of it. “I’m out of here. I need some fresh air.” He told his friends. He wasn’t following their conversation anymore and his face lost all emotion. He needed to get out of there. Leon gave Ichirou a worried look as Dameian and Darius both nodded their heads. They could hear the gossip as well. He left the cafeteria and made his way down the staircase, where there was more gossip going around in the area where there were couches placed for the students to lounge on.

“I bet you Kenji is going to kill that kid.”

“He seemed like a cocky bastard. I’m surprised Kenji didn’t stab him.”

“The kid should have been taught to stay away from Kenji. He’s a First-Year, right?”

The rumors and gossip were spreading like wildfire. The air felt like it was getting heavier to Ichirou. He kept his hood up as he walked past and left the school out the front door. He knew he couldn’t leave school property, so being just outside the school he wouldn’t get into trouble.

As he left the building, Ichirou walked towards the parking lot where he could see Niko and Kojima standing and talking. He didn’t want to interrupt them, but he needed a distraction. Though, as he got closer, Hitsu appeared in front of him.

“I wouldn’t go near them right now. Lover’s quarrel.” Hitsu said as he put his arm around Ichirou’s shoulders and they walked in another direction.

“Lover’s quarrel? I thought Niko didn’t date.” Ichirou questioned.

Hitsu laughed as they walked over to some jocks that Ichirou recognized from the football team from the party. “Niko and Kojima are dating, but they are keeping it on the down-low right now. Niko hasn’t been feeling good but says he’s fine and Kojima is trying to get him to go see a doctor. That about it.”

Ichirou nodded his head in understanding. Made sense now, it made a lot of sense. Well, at least Niko and Kojima were together, though they must have hooked up after they had sex.

“Hey, Hit. Did you hear what happened in third?” One of the jocks asked when Ichirou and he joined the group. “Juan and Daisuke say they had to hold back Mini Ka-yu from Kenji. They were going to kill each other.” A few others laughed.

“We weren’t going to kill each other, we got into a disagreement,” Ichirou growled as he took off his hood. The group standing around were looking at Ichirou like they just saw a ghost. The two jocks that held Ichirou back, Juan and Daisuke were shocked to see him there, and Lyle was grinning.

“If that was a disagreement, I don’t want to know how you two are like when you are both fighting,” Juan said as he shook his head.

Ichirou already knew what they were like when they both were fighting. Bones get broken, not just noses. Ichirou was looking over at Daisuke, whose arms were wrapped in white bandages. “Hey, ah, Daisuke is it?” He asked.

Daisuke looked at him with a nod. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just glad you didn’t bite me and only clawed at me.”

Well, he seemed to be taking it pretty well. “Are you okay? I could heal you up to prevent any infection.” Ichirou offered.

“Wait. You seriously would do that?” Daisuke asked Ichirou this time around.

Ichirou nodded his head. “I mean, your blood count will become low, but I can do it without getting sick.” He remembers that Daisuke was also playing poker the first time Ichirou met them and he fixed the other football player’s knee. He also got sick from it.

“My blood count is fine. I can always go to the office and get a package for emergencies.” Daisuke said as he lifted his one arm towards Ichirou. Ichirou nodded his head in understanding and the group standing around kind of shielded Ichirou in a circle as they talked about training, as Ichirou went about repairing Daisuke’s scratched arm.

One arm down, a second to go. Ichirou took a few sips of water, before starting on the next. The guys around him weren’t paying attention to what he was doing, though some were curious to see the result of Ichirou’s abilities. Kojima made sure the ones that were playing poker kept silent about it, but when their team member came back to practice with a knee that was healed up, they had questioned him and he let it slip. Though, Kojima found out and told them to keep their mouths shut about it.

Finishing up, Ichirou opened his eyes slowly and moved his hand away from Daisuke’s arm. “There.” He looked at Daisuke, who started taking the bandages off. Ichirou down the rest of his water. His thirst still wasn’t quenched, but that didn’t matter, Ichirou could still focus and was still standing.

“Shit. It’s like nothing happened at all.” Daisuke expressed and the others that were curious came up to him to check it out.

“You should join the team as a medic, Mini Ka-yu.” Lyle came up to Ichirou and put his arm over his shoulders. “You could secretly help everyone out with injuries.” He laughed and Ichirou just shook his head with a chuckle.

“I think I’m good. I don’t want to overuse my abilities. That’s how things get found out.” Ichirou snorted. He heard a door slam shut and turned around to see Niko and Kojima leaving in the truck. “Wonder where they are off to?”

Hitsu turned around and see them leaving as well. “Probably to take Niko to the doctors. Kojima must have talked him into going.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“So, what are you going to do about this rumor, Mini Ka-yu?” One of the jocks, Juan, asked Ichirou. “You know everyone is starting to see you more like the plague now. By the time lunchtime is over, the fight between you and Kenji will have spread and everyone will avoid you.”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “You guys aren’t avoiding me, so I don’t see it as an issue.” Some of them laughed at his words and others agreed that Ichirou wasn’t the plague. “If I can get through this day without having another class with him, I’ll be happy.”

“What classes have you had so far?” Another asked Ichirou.

“I’ve had History, Math, and Science so far. Next, I have is Language then Gym C.” Ichirou told them all.

“Seeing as you had your first three with him. You better start praying that Kenji has Gym than Language, or else you are going to have him in Gym class too.” Daisuke said, trying to give Ichirou hope, though the hope was diminished.

Lyle shook his head. “Class A girls have the first period, Class B boys and girls got second. I’m pretty sure Class A boys have third, which leaves Class C girls and boys for the last two classes.”

Ichirou’s whole school year was going to be a shit show if he had to go through it with Kenji. “Is there any way I can change my whole schedule?”

Hitsu patted Ichirou’s shoulder. “Only way was to talk to the guidance counselor like they should have told you to do yesterday. They won’t allow you to change your schedule unless they see it as a problem. It sucks that you didn’t know yesterday what would happen, or else you could have changed it.”

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to make it a problem and hopefully they’ll change it for me.” Ichirou hung his head low. He would fight Kenji any chance that he got, but that also spelled out trouble for him.

“Don’t push yourself. Let shit happen and he’ll get the boot eventually. Didn’t you tell the cops he started it?” Juan told Ichirou and asked him a question too.

Ichirou shook his head as he looked at Juan. “There was no reason to tell the police anything. It was a disagreement we had. I caused it if you want to get it right. Kenji just made it physical.”

“Why did you cause shit with Kenji? That’s the worse thing you could have done.” Another exclaimed. “Didn’t your guide tell you to stay away from him? Mine did.”

Ichirou shook his head. “My guide took me to him. I had some badass John guy.”

The group got quiet, Hitsu sighed. “I was afraid that would happen, I was apart of the guide group and I was going to choose you, but Darius looked worried. I’m guessing that’s why you were bleeding yesterday and didn’t stop walking after coming around the corner from where he appeared.”

“Yeah, he carved shit into my back.” Ichirou rubbed the back of his neck. “I healed that shit up or else it would have turned into a scar etched into my skin and I refuse to have a scar.” He chuckled, dryly.

“We feel bad for you, man. You are on his hit list and that’s a place you don’t want to be on.” Juan told Ichirou, though Ichirou knew he was on his hit list, ever since he beat the shit out of Ryoji. Still, some of them didn’t know that.

The school bell rang on the outside and Ichirou took in a deep breath. He had Language class and that was the one class he didn’t have to deal with Kenji so that brought on a bit of relief. “I’ll wish you luck, Mini Ka-yu. Hopefully, he will skip out on the gym. He’s known to do that.” Ichirou nodded his head as he walked back into the school, hood up and hiding his most of his face as he walked to his locker to get his binder once again.


	45. Chapter 45

Language A class was a welcoming sight. Or so Ichirou thought it would be. Every First-Year students he saw yesterday were in this class, which meant Ryoji and Hayden were in this class too. Leon and Dameian were already sitting in the far back row, with Darius sitting in front of Dameian. Ichirou headed their way, though he had to stop. Ryoji was sitting at one of the front desks and had his foot sticking out, ready to tip Ichirou.

“Nice one.” Ichirou rolled his eyes as he spoke in a sarcastic tone. He stepped over the foot as Ryoji tried to raise his leg, but Ichirou dodged that too and made his way over to the others. He sat in front of Leon, though beside across the aisle from Darius.

Their class was small in numbers and there were a lot of empty desks left. Ichirou wished all his classes were like this. He would definitely have a choice to move away from Kenji in class.

Leon tapped Ichirou’s shoulder, so Ichirou turned around to face Leon. “Man, is everything they saying about you and Kenji true? I mean, about fighting in third. The other stuff going around might be true or not, but we are worried that you fought with Kenji in third.”

Ichirou looked at Darius who was pitying Ichirou, and Dameian had a scowl on his face, and Leon was looking worried. Ichirou nodded his head. “Yeah, we had a disagreement, though it’s nothing serious.”

“Nothing serious? Ichirou, he's the worst badass. I mean you said you got into a fight, but we didn’t think you were serious about it.” Dameian growled lowly. He was angry about the rumors, or was he just pissed off because of Ichirou keeping it a secret?

Leon shook his head. “Ichirou, rumors are spreading and because of that little fight you two had, you have a bad reputation. Everyone is being told to avoid you, saying things that anyone who associates with you will be on his hit list. I mean, the rumor about you going to the hospital is false, so we hope that the rumor about getting on Kenji’s hit list will be false too.” Leon was the big tough guy human, but he was even starting to get fearful of Ichirou. Ichirou could sense it.

Ichirou shook his head. “If that rumor proves to be true, I will personally deal with it.”

“How? By getting into another fight?” Darius questioned. “Violence can’t be solved with violence.”

Shaking his head, Ichirou turned back around. “I have my ways. If you noticed Dameian isn’t on his hit list.” Though Ichirou was the cause of breaking up that fight between Ryoji and Dameian, still Dameian wasn’t Kenji’s target. Ichirou just had to hope his idea would help him if his friends got in Kenji’s sights.

“Yeah, but still,” Leon spoke softer. “We don’t want to lose you as a friend, but we also have to keep ourselves safe and we don’t want to stop being your friend. You’re a pretty good friend.”

Ichirou smirked and turned towards the three friends he had. “You guys won’t stop being my friend. Trust me, you are all safe.” He gave them a genuine smirk, with trusting eyes and they all nodded their heads as the teacher walked into the classroom.

“Welcome to your first year of high school.” The teacher started and Ichirou notice he was one of the teachers at the booth yesterday. He looked around the room and seen Ichirou. He paused for a moment before he started to continue. “There are a lot of changes you have all probably noticed already. I am your teacher for the rest of your first three years. Your Language class is like your homeroom classroom. So anytime they talk about going to your homeroom teacher for a newsletter and such, you will come to me. Is that understood?” Most of the class nodded their heads in understanding. “Good, now I have a few newsletters to give out to all of you.”

* * *

Language class was over, Ichirou was glad for that. Language class was split into too many things. First, it was their homeroom class, then they had to introduce themselves to everyone in the class, Ichirou was picked last by the teacher. Then they were given a book they had to study for the class. To top it up, they had to write a bit about themselves as an assignment. Ichirou was sure it was going to be like the spelling and reading classes in elementary school, but it was a bit of everything jam-packed together into one class.

The last class of the day was starting once the bell rang. Ichirou sighed. The last class of the day, and the last class he might have with Kenji. Leon and he walked to the gym from their Language class that was in the same hallway and were the first ones there. Followed by Ryoji, Hayden, and even Ryan. Ryan didn’t even look in Ichirou’s direction once, though Ichirou could understand why. The last time he saw Ryan was at the park when Ichirou confronts him, Toki, and Kojima and beat the hell out of Kojima and the two others. Though, like Hayden who had long blond hair and blue eyes, Ryan had short blond hair and blue eyes. It must have been a trait that all Angels had blond hair and blue eyes. That made Ichirou wonder why Yuriel had blond hair and blue eyes too. Maybe, Yuriel’s real father was an Angel?

Erasing that thought from his head, he turned to Leon and started talking with him. “So, what are you going to write about yourself?” Leon asked Ichirou.

“Haven’t figured it out yet. Probably write that my father is famous and I live with his ex and his kids who are like my siblings. Keep it short and sweet and to the point, I think.” Ichirou shrugged, he didn’t have a plan, but he was sure when he got home from school he was going to write it all out.

“Yeah, I hate things like this.” Leon looked over Ichirou’s shoulder. “What I’m going to about is my love for football and hopefully that will be enough.”

Ichirou turned around to see what Leon was looking at and Ichirou was relieved. Juan and Daisuke were in this class too. They sure didn’t tell Ichirou that bit of information when they asked what classes he had left. They came up towards Leon and Ichirou.

“So, how did class without the devil work out for you?” Juan asked Ichirou, with a slight smile on his face.

Ichirou stuffed his hands in his pockets.”A lot better than expected, but I have to deal with Ryoji in that class. Though, he’s easy.” He smirked and the three laughed at his words. Yeah, Ryoji was easy to deal with, he was sure Dameian would love another round with him, so Ichirou wasn’t too worried about Ryoji.

A dark skin toned kid walked over to them, he wasn’t built like the other’s Ichirou was standing with, he had some muscle tone, but Ichirou recognized from Language class. He was a First-Year student as well. “Hey, guys.” He greeted the others before his dark eyes landed on Ichirou, he was human Ichirou noticed.

“Oh, hey Jeremy.” Leon put his arm around the dark skin toned kid. “This is Jeremy. He’s joining the football team this year.” Ichirou nodded his head, he could see this kid didn’t want to be here. Was it because of Ichirou?

“Yeah, he has tryouts after school, but I think he’d do fine. The coach thinks he showed great potential yesterday.” Daisuke added.

The kid, Jeremy looked at Ichirou. “May I ask why you are hanging around with him? Isn’t he Kenji?” The kid looked nervous, though he was confident in speaking.

Leon laughed. “This isn’t Kenji, this is Ichirou. He’s my best friend.”

“I thought because he has red eyes, I just thought I was supposed to stay away from the kid with the red eyes.” Jeremy smiled slightly after Leon cleared it up.

Daisuke shook his head. “They both have red eyes but don’t let that throw you off, kid. Ichirou is a gentle teddy bear.” Juan and Daisuke laughed out loud. Ichirou rolled his eyes.

“Oh, you are Mini Ka-yu, I take it then?” Jeremy held out his hand and Ichirou looked down and took the hand offered to him and shook it.

“Yeah, that’s what they call me,” Ichirou smirked, at least he could count on the football team to be his friend. He let go of Jeremy’s hand as Leon was talking to Jeremy, Ichirou’s eyes were directed to the doors of the Gym. He was waited for Kenji to walk in.

Though it wasn’t Kenji who walked in, a guy that Ichirou remembered from yesterday. With white hair and black eyes, and the fanged grin of his lips. Sure, Dameian always grinned with his fangs sticking out, but this guy had a menacing grin like he was going to cause trouble for anyone he talked to.

Ichirou nudge Daisuke in the arm and nodded his head in the direction of this newcomer. “Who’s that guy?” Juan and Daisuke looked over to where Ichirou was indicating and saw the white hair guy as he walked up to Ryoji and Ryan. Wait. Where did Hayden go, Ichirou wondered.

“That’s Spike. Seriously, that is his name.” Daisuke was telling Ichirou as the two looked away from him. “He’s in a Third Year student and he hangs out with Kenji. He’s bad news too. Like really fucked up bad news.”

“Rumor has it, he slept with his sister when she was pregnant with another guy’s child,” Juan spoke quietly. “Though that’s just a rumor, no one even knows if he has a sister or not.”

“He might have had a sister if you listened to the whole rumor, he slashed her throat to keep her from screaming when he did it.” Daisuke looked at Juan. “Though, that is just a rumor, don’t believe all rumors you hear. The thing I know, because I see it with my own eyes is him fucking a chick in the graveyard. Though, a rumor started that he fucked her and buried her alive after he was done because no one has seen her after that night.”

“What about when he actually took Samantha and hung her upside down, naked, and threw knives at her.” Leon frowned. “That wasn’t a rumor. Kenji found out and he put a stop to it. Of course, Spike had a black eye the next day and as soon as the rumor started, it died out because Samantha freaked out. That was just last year.” He wasn’t even in high school last year, but he heard the story through the football team.

Ichirou shook his head. Kenji had the record to prove what he did, but this guy, Spike was full of rumors. Though, if he was hanging around Kenji, it wouldn’t surprise him in some of those rumors became true. With no sign of Kenji coming, he figured Kenji was skipping and that made Ichirou feel at ease about this.

The gym doors were closed as an athletic looking teacher wearing a t-shirt, shorts and a whistle hanging around his neck came into the gym. He blew the whistle and Ichirou flinched. That hurt his ears, and he could see a few others flinch from the whistle. Vampires had sensitive ears, so the sharp loud noises really hurt some of their ears.

“All right class. This is Gym Class C. I am your teacher, your instructor, and your basketball coach for this school’s team. I will be drilling you all into shape and expecting nothing but the best out of you.” The teacher had a clipboard in his one hand and a pen in the other. “I have six Class A students and twenty-two Class C students. That is expected.” The teacher blew his whistle again. “Alright all Class A’s in a line here and all Class C’s in a line here.” He directed the students where to line up.

Ichirou walked over with Leon and Jeremy, Ryoji and Ryan were already lined up where they needed to line up. As they stood in their lines, the teacher rolled out to carts. “These are your gym clothes for the year, you will have a pair of black basketball shorts and a white shirt with your class letter on it. It is your responsibility to wash your gym clothes. If you are someone who sweats a lot, wash them every day. If you don’t, you can wash them every second day for all I care. Though, if you come into my gym class smelling like something horrid, you will be having a shower in your gym clothes with whatever I find. Warning for you, most of the time I shower you with whatever lunch we had. So beware if it’s chili day because it will burn and stain. Now, grab your gym clothes.”

Of course, Ryoji and Ryan dug into the cart of clothes, finding their sizes. Leon and Jeremy did the same, where Ichirou didn’t reach in and grab anything. He looked into the cart with shirts and shorts, all different sizes. He saw a shirt that he knew was going to be large on him and took it. And looked at the black shorts. They all had drawstrings so he took a size that wasn’t small. There was no need for him to dress to impress with gym clothes. Class C was different, there were five guys dig into the cart and calling out sizes and handing them off to the others. At least they had a system.

“Alright, you go inside the locker room, find a locker with a key sticking out of it and bring me your locker number and keep your locker key. Now, go get changed into your gym clothes and sit on the benches here when you are done.” The teacher blew the whistle again, Ichirou’s ears rang something bad, he swore he would be deaf by the end of the year if he had to listen to that whistle every day.

Everyone started walking into the locker room, who had their gym clothes and Leon grabbed Ichirou’s arm and lead him down the way to the very end, or at least close to the end. There were six areas to choose your locker from, but Leon took him to the fifth area. The very last area was the sixth, but no light was on over that area.

“Most of the football players take this area or the other one beside because it’s closer to the showers and away from the door that leads to the hall.” Leon was explaining to Ichirou. “You wouldn’t believe how many times girls had tried to take a peek at us when we change.” Of course, Leon would know about this. Even if he was a First Year student, he had also been on the football team last year. For being a human, Leon showed the great skill that the high school football coach wanted him to be on the team last year.

Ichirou looked at the lockers and opened one where the key was still in it. He quickly took off his hoodie and shirt, threw them inside the locker, and put his new gym shirt on. A bit oversized for him, but he didn’t care. Then something hit his nose as Juan and Daisuke came to where he and Leon were standing. That scent. A scent that told Ichirou someone was aroused. He turned around with his back to the locker and sniffed again. It was heavenly, it was different then anything he smelled before and it was going to start affecting his body if he didn’t stop smelling it.

Daisuke paused as well, after he opened his locker, he sniffed the air. Then a blush appeared on his face, though he didn’t cover his cheeks up. “You just had to bring someone in here to fuck!” Daisuke spoke his words aloud and went on continuing to dress for Gym.

Ichirou shook his head. Of course, someone was having a good time, that could be the only reason for it. He turned around and started taking his pants off. The scent was going to drive Ichirou crazy soon, so he knew he had to get out of here, fast.

“Ah! Kenji~” A soft voice was heard moaning out loud. “S-slow down… Ah~!” Ichirou shook his head, of course, it had to be Kenji doing this. Though, that voice, so soft and gentle like Angel’s voice. He was sure of it. He was sure he knew whose voice it was. “S-stop, please… Ah~!”

Ichirou swallowed. His mouth was watering, the scent of blood hit his nose and he realized how hungry he was for blood now. He pulled his shorts on, about to leave, but then Hayden came from the direction of the moaning sounds. Walking with his head hanging down low, holding the side of his neck, and the scent of sex comes off of him. Was he just doing it with Kenji?

Kenji appeared from around the corner of the lockers. “I always say having a good workout before Gym class is the best kind of exercise.” He looked pleased, with the telltale smirk on his father that matched the one his father always wore after sex. Ichirou shook his head and walked away out of the locker room.

Hayden must have left through the changing room door that leads out to the hallway, because as Ichirou walked back into the gym, Hayden came into the gym from the main gym doors. Ichirou shook his head. If their gym teacher was anything but human, he would be able to tell right away what Hayden was doing. Hayden had to grab a shirt and shorts before going back into the locker room.

Sitting on the bench, Ichirou was joined by the others. Jeremy came and sat near him, but not close enough to be associated with Ichirou. Then Leon came out. “Man, what is wrong with him?” Leon spoke as he sat down near Ichirou. “Juan and Daisuke are looking weird in there and they blamed it on Kenji. I know Kenji was fucking Hayden but those guys get easily turned on by moans.” Leon laughed a bit, as Jeremy laughed with him as he moved closer to Leon.

Ichirou shook his head. Of course, the humans wouldn’t pick up on the scent. Ichirou was just glad to get out of there fast and calm himself down enough that he wasn’t showing any signs of arousal. “Well, they were sweet sounds, so maybe they get their kicks off of sounds,” Ichirou replied, making Jeremy and Leon laugh more.

Ichirou watched as Ryan and Hayden came out of the locker room, followed by Ryoji and Spike. Then Juan and Daisuke came out after a few others stepped out. The last of the students to come out was Kenji, wearing his school gym clothes with a white shirt that had the letter A on it. If he was in Class C, why wasn’t he wearing a C shirt?

The teacher noticed but didn’t say a thing about it. “Alright, class. We are going to run three laps around the gym.” He blew that whistle again, as everyone got off the benches and started jogging around the gym. Ichirou was jogging with Leon and Jeremy, with Juan and Daisuke taking off in front of them.

“Man, I can’t wait for practice. I want to work on my takedown.” Jeremy commented.

Leon grinned. “Yeah, if you are going to try out for defensive lineman you got to have the skills and the strength to do it.” He patted Jeremy on the back. “I suggest taking Lyle’s advice. And go for the outside linebacker position with him. You two would be great at it.”

Jeremy laughed. “What position are you, Leon? Heard you are a beast.”

“I’m running back. If I get the ball off the quarterback, you best believe I can run it down the field. Of course, I have Kojima and Hit as guards and they are tough to take down.” Leon chuckled.

Ichirou had an idea of what they were talking about, but he didn’t interrupt their conversation as they jogged their three laps around the gym. He knew none of it involved him so he didn’t say a word.

After everyone in the class ran, or jogged, or walked their three laps, the teacher had them sit down on the benches and wait for instructions. He was looking towards the jocks, the football jocks. Ichirou was sitting with them and wondered what the teacher was going to say.

“Okay, now that we had our warm-up.” The teacher looked around the room. “How about we play some basketball.” That when Ichirou heard Daisuke and Juan groan out loud, Leon’s shoulders fell. Ichirou wasn’t sure he was getting it. It was a sport, just not football. “So, I need… Let’s see. Two groups of five and three groups of six. We will be playing half courts with the hoops on the side and one team will sit out till another wins. The winning team switches out, and let’s say five baskets are a win. Rules are your own to decide.”

Well, it was clear to Ichirou everyone who was seated on the bench near Kenji or him got up and headed to the one side of the gym. Ichirou saw a few of the looks of fear directed at him. He rolled his eyes, they were believing whatever rumors that were spreading about him. He had the football team behind him and that should be enough to tell others he wasn’t as bad as Kenji but guessed that made no difference.

There were actually ten of them left on the benches. Ichirou, Leon, Jeremy, Daisuke, and Juan on one end, and the other end had Kenji, Ryoji, Hayden, Ryan, and Spike. There were the first two teams of five. Though, Ichirou was wondering why the gym teacher decided that he needed to make five teams when he could have made four teams with seven on each team. They could have switched out players, so that would give them a break during play.

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. Ichirou stood up with his arms crossed over his chest and walked over to the side of the court they were on. The teacher came out of the storage locker where the gym equipment was kept. He had a small crate with colored flags and holding two basketballs. The teacher looked at Ichirou. “You need to join a team.”

“That’s my team.” Ichirou inclined his neck towards where the football jocks were sitting. “Is that a problem?” He looked over at the others and they got up and headed towards Ichirou.

“Alright.” The teacher looked at Kenji and his group. “Fine, your two teams have a choice to be shirts or no shirts, the flags will go to the other teams.” He handed Ichirou the basketball and walked away.

Ichirou stood on the far end of the court near the center and Kenji walked over with his team, they stared down each other. It was clear there was tension between them, but Kenji’s face was emotionless and Ichirou wore a smirk on his lips. Leon looked between the two and then patted Ichirou on the shoulder. “Are we shirts or no shirts?”

“Strip,” Kenji spoke his words with a demanding tone. How his soft gentle voice could make your skin crawl when he got demanding, Ichirou would never understand.

“I rather keep my shirt on, you should strip.” Ichirou snorted, he didn’t want Kenji to see that his back was healed and not a single scar. He didn’t want Kenji to get the idea to carve into his back again. That was a pain, more ways than one, that he didn't want to endure again.

It was Kenji’s turn to smirk as Ichirou’s face dropped into a serious one. “I have Angels on my team and they don’t have the toned body of a jock, plus they are underage. They haven’t hit puberty yet, so why would you suggest they take their shirts off? Are you a pervert?” Kenji’s words made Ichirou snarl. Ichirou wasn’t going to argue with Kenji, he knew what Kenji wanted and he was going to be disappointed.

“Fine, we will take off our shirts,” Ichirou said, as he turned his back towards Kenji. “You guys okay with that?” His team just nodded their heads, they didn’t see a problem with stripping their shirts off. Ichirou bent down and placed the basketball on the floor and grabbed the hem of his shirt with his hands and lifted the material off his body, exposing his back to Kenji. All five of them toss their shirts to the side and Ichirou pulled the drawstrings on his shorts tighter and tied it off. He was going to need to keep his shorts up. Leon picked the basketball up from the floor and dribbled it a few times before bouncing between each hand.

“It’s been a while since I played basketball. Only a few months ago. Hey, Ichirou?” Leon, Dameian, and Ichirou always played basketball for recess when they were in elementary school. Leon was always their opponent, as Dameian sucked or goofed off during their little games, so it usually was Ichirou and Leon taking it seriously.

“Yeah, but what rules shall we play by?” Ichirou crossed his arms over his tone chest. His arms were toned, his abs were just starting showing. Leon had toned muscles in his legs and arms, he was also starting to get his abs to show. Jeremy looked toned for a thirteen-year-old human, Leon had worked out and made his body the way it was, where Jeremy was just starting. Daisuke and Juan had their arms and chests toned, though nothing seriously big. Ichirou learned they were training and both were defensive linemen on the football team. They had the arms to tackle down anyone that on in their way, at least.

“Street rules.” Kenji was looking not impressed by Leon’s little tricks with the basketball bouncing between his legs, though Ichirou knew Kenji was hiding his curiosity about Ichirou’s scar-less back.

“Fine, call your fouls.” Ichirou gave Kenji a look. Kenji looked bored in Ichirou’s direction. Leon stepped up to center with the ball and Ichirou thought Kenji was going to take center, but instead he was guarding Ichirou. Ryoji took center. The game started with Ryoji trying to spear Leon but that was a poor move as Leon passed the ball to Jeremy. With the ball, dribbling it right in front of Hayden, Ichirou and Kenji were trying to guard each other away from Jeremy and Hayden. Jeremy did a fakie and passed the ball to Daisuke, who was opened, as Ryan tried to elbow the bigger teen, but Daisuke dodge the move, Ryan tripped to the ground, and took the ball down the court, as Spike was coming up to him. He passed to Juan, who made the basket.

“Fucking jock.” Kenji cursed under his breath. He glared a look at Ichirou. “You have some explaining to do.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I make friends with the jocks and I have to explain that to you?” He snorted as a smirk appeared on his face.

“That’s not what I am talking about.” Kenji seethed behind his teeth, keeping his voice low as they got back into starting position, this time Kenji’s team had the ball. Spike took center with a menacing grin on his face, as Juan took center as well. Ichirou and Kenji were back to guarding each other as the game continued again. Juan tried to smack the ball out of Spike’s hands, but Spike was quick on his feet and slipped around Juan. Though, Daisuke was there to block Spike. Spike passed the ball to Ryan, who tripped Jeremy as he got the ball and quickly he passed the ball to Ryoji. Leon blocked the pass and dribbling the ball back down to the other side of the court. Though, Hayden came out of nowhere and stole the ball from Leon. Hayden took the ball back over the center line and passed it to Ryan, who dribbled it further and passed to Spike, and Spike made the basket.

Ichirou and Kenji never made it past the centerline, they were holding each other at the centerline without grabbing each other. “I’m a Vampire, just like you. I heal.” Ichirou answered Kenji’s unasked question. “Sorry if I don’t scar as you expected me to,” Ichirou smirked, Kenji balled his hands into fists, as if he was going to punch Ichirou.

“Center, now.” Kenji spat in Ichirou’s face. The older teen was only less than a foot than Ichirou. “Settle this on the court.” He was pissed, but he wasn’t going to hit Ichirou, at least. Though Ichirou highly doubted that they were playing street rules, and sometimes those got violent when you had to call your fouls.

Ichirou was passed the ball and he walked to the center with Kenji beside him, their eyes never leaving each other. He bounced the ball a few times before they got to center, though once they hit the center, Ichirou faked a pass, bounce the between Kenji’s legs, as Ichirou took the ball down the court, faked another pass and twisted his body around Spike and dashed with the ball, dodging Ryan’s body slam he was trying to do to Ichirou and Ryoji trying to trip Ichirou, as Ichirou made it to the basket and dunk the ball.

“Damn, that kids got skill,” Spike commented, which Kenji spat to the side on the gym flooring.

“Center again,” Kenji told Ichirou, who nodded his head. The others were watching them, not sure what was going on right now between the two. Ichirou walked up to Kenji and pushed the basketball into his chest and took his place at the center.

“Ichirou, what’s going on?” Leon came up to Ichirou.

“Settling a score,” Ichirou spoke the words, not taking his eyes off Kenji.

Leon raised his hands and stepped away from Ichirou. He didn’t want to be involved and he backed away from Ichirou and Kenji. Kenji hit the center line and clicked his tongue at Ichirou and dribbled the ball once, and twice, and Ichirou stole the ball and ran it down the court, dribbling, catching the other’s off guard and making a shot at the basket and the ball going in. He grabbed the ball again and was walking towards the center.

“Sneaky twat.” Kenji cursed at Ichirou.

“Ball was in play. Fair game.” Ichirou smirked at Kenji. “Your ball again.” Ichirou stood on his side of the court and passed the ball to Kenji, who caught it. Kenji nodded his head to his team to come closer to the center. Ichirou watched and looked at what was going on as his team members came closer as well to stop Kenji. Ichirou down and smirked as he took a step back.

Kenji bounced the ball once, the match started and Ichirou did a move no one expected of him. He pushed himself into a low slide, between Kenji’s legs, taking the ball from his grasp and kicked up from his back on his feet, dribbled the ball, and made a jump shot to the basket and the ball went in.

The guys on the court were shocked at what just happened, as Ichirou turned around and flipped Kenji off. Kenji looked more than piss now. The purple swirl around Kenji’s iris’ was fading, his eyes were turning full red now.

“Three to one. Want to keep going? You and me.” Ichirou suggested. Kenji nodded his head. That was the cue for everyone else to clear the court. Though, Ichirou’s team members went to the side, as Kenji’s team went back to the bench and sat down. Ichirou passed the ball to Kenji, and one bounce and Kenji faked his next move around Ichirou, taking the ball down the court, though Ichirou was fast to recover and ran up to Kenji and blocked his shot and took the ball down passed the center line and Kenji came up to Ichirou, trying to block him from making a basket, though Ichirou, with his arm up to keep Kenji from stealing and his backside pushing Kenji, he pulled the same move Kenji did on him and jumped to dunk the ball again.

“Fuck. You are getting on my nerves.” Kenji hissed at Ichirou. “I’m going teach you a less-” The teacher blew the whistle. Both, Ichirou and Kenji flinched before looking at the teacher coming towards them, he had the basketball in his hand that they were playing with.

“What are you two doing?” The teacher was pointing his finger at them. “This is a team sport. Your teams are even on the court.” He pointed to Kenji.

“Actually, my team is.” Ichirou nodded towards his team, who were just on the side of the court, doing push-ups or sit-ups. They were doing something gym-related, at least.

The teacher narrowed his eyes. “Football jocks are all the same. Ignorant.”

Kenji stepped up to the teacher. “Don’t dis the football players. Not our fault your basketball team doesn’t get the most athletic players.” He took the ball from the teacher and turned, shoulder checking Ichirou, hard. “Let’s finish the game.” Ichirou rubbed his chest where Kenji just shoulder checked him. It didn’t hurt, but sure made Ichirou’s attention go back to Kenji and he followed him to center court. “The last point wins,” Kenji told Ichirou.

“What the fuck? You only got one point to your team.” Ichirou was looking at Kenji with a scowl on his face. “I think if you dunk twice on me then I’ll let you win.” As he said this, Kenji dribbled the ball and made the shot from the centerline, scoring for his side.

“There, the last point wins,” Kenji smirked at Ichirou who rolled his eyes at the other.

Ichirou let out a sigh as Jeremy got the ball for them and passed it to Ichirou. “You made a mistake, you gave me the ball.” Ichirou dribbled the ball taking a step back and doing exactly what Kenji did to him. “Five to two. I win.” Kenji spat at Ichirou’s feet and turned away. Kenji walked past the teacher and headed into the locker room. The teacher didn’t even try to stop Kenji.

Ichirou walked away from the court towards the team members he had for the basketball game. “Man, you surprised us with that one move, but I see playing against me in elementary school paid off.” Leon chuckled.

“I thought for sure there was going to be another fight. Kenji looked pissed.” Daisuke looked up at Ichirou. “Me and Juan can hold you back, but no one here can hold Kenji back without getting injured. We barely held you back in the classroom.”

“There was going to be no fight. Kenji wanted to settle it out on the court.” Ichirou smirked and looked back at the others still sitting on the bench, Ryoji was glaring at Ichirou. “Though, there might be a fight if Ryoji doesn’t stop looking at me.”

Jeremy looked over Ichirou’s shoulder. “Yeah, that kid and those guys are in my classes. The one looking at you always has his arm around the Angel with the long hair. Likes he’s trying to protect him. The older one is always interrupting the teacher.”

“Ouch. I feel bad for you, man. Spike likes things taught his way. He's barely got the brains but he will try and teach the class like he knows everything.” Juan commented. “He’s been that way since elementary school.”

“Seriously? Man, I’m going to fail.” Jeremy pouted. “I’m not good at school work. I almost flunked elementary school, but my parents paid off the principal to push me to through to the next year.”

“Hey, get Ichirou to tutor you,” Leon spoke up. “He got smarts and I copied off of him through most of the elementary school.” Juan and Daisuke looked at Leon like he was crazy. “What? It’s true. Tell them Ichirou.”

Ichirou was shaking his head. “He’s not lying. Though, I’m not sure I should tutor. I know most of the things the teachers do, but there are some things I know more than them, and then there are things that are new to even me. I’d have to be in the class to know what to help out with.”

“Oh, just try and tutor me. If I can get a passing grade at least in class, I can stay on the football team. Or I’ll have to drop that and study.” Jeremy looked hopeful at Ichirou. Ichirou wasn’t sure he should do this, he’s not much of a teacher. He wouldn’t even know where to begin. His knowledge wasn’t learned, it was passed down. “I’ll even pay you to tutor me?” Jeremy was bribing Ichirou now.

Ichirou bent down on his knees to get at eye level with Jeremy as everyone was on the floor from their exercises. “You realize you are asking someone who everyone, by tomorrow, will be avoiding? It might not be good for your reputation.”

Juan laughed. “Mini Ka-yu, we aren’t going to avoid you. You’re buddies with Hitsu, Lyle, and Kojima. Not to mention Niko. That’s more than enough for us to stick by you. We even partied together.”

“Please, don’t classify Kojima and me as friends or anything. He will always be a bully to me.” Ichirou warned with a smirk, and the three that knew Ichirou and Kojima weren’t friends laughed. “Well, if you aren’t afraid to be associated with me, I’ll tutor you, Jeremy.”

“You will?” Jeremy’s jaw dropped. “That’s great. I will pay you for your time, well, my parents will. They always talked about getting me a tutor, but I didn’t want to be tutored by some old guy.”

They all laughed before the whistle was blown by the teacher and they were all told to hit the showers. Ichirou decided to skip the shower, though he had a reason for it. He got Jeremy’s phone number and said he would text him later to talk about planning what days they should schedule tutoring when school started getting into the learning progress.


	46. Chapter 46

It was Wednesday, and Ichirou was dreading going to school. Even though he got up early, he procrastinated getting out of the condominium. He really didn’t want to see Kenji today. He wasn’t in the mood to fight, he was ignoring his text messages coming in, he knew his friends would be getting worried why he wasn’t showing up to school that day.

Mizuki came out of the master bedroom, freshly showered and dressed up, looking ready to go out, when he paused to see Ichirou sitting on the couch in front of the TV, wearing sweat pants. “Why are you still at home?” He asked Ichirou as he walked over to the kitchen to fix himself a small snack.

“Don’t feel like going today.” Ichirou coldly told Mizuki, as he flipped the channel to another.

“Ichirou, unless you are sick or injured, you have to go to school,” Mizuki told Ichirou. “You are living under my roof, and you need to go to school if you aren’t old enough to work.”

“So, you have a job yet?” Ichirou raised his brow at Mizuki. “I mean, you aren’t in school, so you must have a job.” He spoke his words cheeky like. He just wanted to be left alone, and Mizuki wasn’t going to leave him alone.

“Actually, I do. I’m going to be a model. While the band is on hiatus, I was reached out by a talent agent who deals with modeling. He wants me for a few shoots and the money I get from those will help pay a lot here.” Mizuki grinned. “So, I suggest you get up and get dressed, or I will take you to school like you are.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. He thought he would have Mizuki again, and be skipping out of school. He got up and sauntered to his room. He threw on a part of ripped jeans and a loose black muscle shirt with the name of his father’s band on it. He ruffled his hair, his longish black hair and it went back into its natural spiky state. His dark red eyes were almost dull-looking he noticed. He shrugged his shoulders and was heading out with Mizuki yelling at him to hurry.

Mizuki drove him to the high school and Ichirou climbed out of the car. “You know if your father was here, he would be pissed at you for trying to skip,” Mizuki told Ichirou as he got out.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “If my father was here, shit would be settled.” Ichirou shut the car door, leaving Mizuki confused by his words as Ichirou stuffed one of his hands into his pocket and strolled right up to the front doors from the parking lot. He walked into the school, it seemed dead silent except for the office with chatter. As he walked towards the staircase and climbed them, it got quieter. He had History B right now, judging by the time on his phone so he was headed in the right direction.

All the classroom doors were shut as Ichirou walked down the hallway towards his classroom. He thought of knocking, but instead, he just opened the door and the teacher turned towards the door as Ichirou walked in. The class was quiet. Ichirou scanned the room and seen that the students weren’t in their seats from yesterday, but the two desks that Ichirou and Kenji sat at yesterday were empty. Kenji wasn’t here either. So he walked down the first aisle to the back and took up the corner desk that Kenji sat in after kicking Ichirou out of it.

“Nice of you to join us.” The teacher said. “Now, continuing…” The class continued just like that. Ichirou wasn’t looking impressed at the teacher as he talked. Then again, the subject he was discussing was a continuation from yesterday and Ichirou already knew this stuff the teacher was talking about.

When the bell rang, Ichirou got out his phone and got up. He was looking down at his phone, but he noticed the students waited for him to pass by their desk before getting up. Out in the hallway, it was feeling like the same thing. Ichirou was looking at the text messages he received from his friends, but still noticing that the students in the hallway were getting out of his way or pressing their backs up against the wall till he passed.

Yesterday's rumors were starting to show themselves. He was like the plague to everyone, everyone that didn’t know him. He walked down the staircase, he walked over to his locker, pulled out his binder, before heading to his next class. Mathematics A. He walked into the class, seen Dameian, Darius, and Leon sitting there in the far corner away from the door again. Dameian sat at the corner desk, with Darius in front of him and Leon sitting next to him in the next row of desks. The desk in front of Leon was taken up already and there were still other desks to choose from, but Ichirou smirked to himself. If he was the plague, he might just use this to his advantage.

Walking down the aisle, his eyes were on the student, sitting at the desk in front of Leon. The student didn’t seem to notice Ichirou until he stopped and placed his hand on the desk. The student stopped talking to a friend beside him and looked up at Ichirou. “You’re sitting at my desk,” Ichirou told him. He looked Ichirou up and down, before gathering his books.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize this was yours. Here, I kept the seat warm for you.” The student got up and walked over a few aisles before taking up another desk. Ichirou sat down at the desk and softly chuckled to himself in victory. He didn’t think he was that scary looking, but the rumors must have made him out to be the bad guy.

“That was kind of rude, Ichirou,” Darius told Ichirou. “You could have taken the one beside Leon.” He pointed it out.

Ichirou turned around and looked at his friends. Dameian didn’t seem to care what Ichirou did, neither did Leon, but it was Darius who was calling him out on it. “I wanted to sit next to you, Darius. Though, if you don’t want to associate with me anymore I’ll gladly take my leave.”

Darius huffed and turned away from Ichirou, Leon moved closer to Ichirou and whispered in his ear. “Darius had a run-in with Ryoji this morning before classes started.”

Ichirou turned around in his desk to face Leon. “What happened?”

Leon shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know. Darius had gone to the washroom, Dameian and I were talking and Darius came back with tears in his eyes and only told us Ryoji was the cause.”

Ichirou frowned. If Ryoji was the cause of this, he was sure Dameian was feeling fueled with rage. Though, before Ichirou could even question Dameian, the teacher walked in and class began. Ichirou rubbed his bared arms, he wasn’t cold, he was just trying to calm himself as he leans on the desk with both of his elbows and put his head down. Kenji didn’t show up in this class either. Ichirou had his issues to deal with, but his friends had issues too. He wondered what happened between Ryoji and Darius.

Though Mathematics was an easy class for Ichirou, he struggled to concentrate. He was working out math equations on top of finishing his Language assignment that he didn’t do last night. Though, in the back of his mind, he was worried about Darius, as he would steal glances over at him ever so often. He was just doing his work like Ichirou was.

When the bell rang, Ichirou groaned and put everything away in his binder. He almost finished his Language assignment, but he wasn’t quite finished his math work. He hated the idea of having homework after that teacher in elementary school forced so much on to them. Darius had quickly gotten up and rushed out of the classroom, where Dameian and Leon stood beside Ichirou’s desk, wait for him.

“Where is Kenji? I was surprised to not see him today.” Leon asked, thinking that Ichirou might have seen him.

“Who cares. The guy can go suck a golf ball through a straw.” Dameian grinned flashing his fangs. “He wasn’t here, so maybe he’s not here at all.”

“Who knows. Though he wasn’t in the first period and if he’s not in the third I think I should just stop mopping around and just be glad to have a day off from him, as I’ll have to deal with him for the rest of the year.” Ichirou got up and walked with his two best friends out of the classroom.

“I think you’re a demon.” Dameian laughed lightly as they walked Dameian to his next class down the hall. “Everyone is staring at you.”

“Remember all the rumors yesterday. I’m feared, just like Kenji is.” Ichirou rolled his eyes. Dameian slapped his back.

“Well, I ain’t scared of you.” Dameian cheered and a few students looked at him with fear, fear for his life from touching Ichirou. “Just promise me you’ll have my back again.”

Ichirou snorted. “I’ll always have your back, you doofus. I like to watch a good fight, but I hate to see you get your ass handed to you.” He chuckled and Dameian and Leon both laughed, as Dameian waved them off and Leon and Ichirou headed up the stairs to their next class.

“Seriously, Dameian is out for Ryoji right now. He’s keeping a cool head about it, or just acting like himself because after that party Dameian has been itching to fight Ryoji again for -you know- Darius’ virginity.” Leon was trying to keep it hush-hush, as they made their way up the stairs and everyone was staring at them.

“He’ll get his chance to seek revenge. I just don’t think Dameian should do it at school. Wait till the weekend. We know where Ryoji lives.” Ichirou replied to Leon in a low tone.

Leon nodded his head. “I think you’re right. I’ll try talking Dameian down from it, but you know, you’d have a better shot at doing that now, big man on campus.” Leon teased Ichirou and shoved Ichirou’s shoulder. To which Ichirou staggered a step away from Leon, right into another, which everything around Ichirou stopped. He looked down at the floor and seen a very small girl with long blond curly hair start to pick up her books before Ichirou reached a hand down to her.

“Thank you.” She spoke with a slight accent. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She took Ichirou’s hand and he pulled her up. That’s when their eyes met. Dark red eyes met with crystal blue ones. She was no Angel, but she looked like one to Ichirou. Though her expression was filled with shock and fear, Ichirou still held her hand and it trembled slightly.

“No need to worry, my dear.” Ichirou felt the need to do something. So, he let his body take control and he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly on the back of her hand. “My friend here had pushed me in your direction. That is all.” He gave her a soft smirk as his dark red eyes searched her face for a moment. He released her hand. “Till next time we meet.” He said and walked away.

Ichirou didn’t look back, but Leon did and he was grinning like a fool. “You have something with the ladies. I mean, she stood there, looking back at you as others came to see if she was okay after.” He slapped Ichirou on the shoulder as they got to their separate classroom doors which were across for each other. “I’ll see you for lunch. Lockers?”

“Sure, I’ll meet you guys there.” Ichirou waved Leon off as they walked into their separate classrooms and Ichirou looked around. The front center lab had no students sitting at it, so he started making his way in that direction. Though he was grabbed by the arm and Ichirou turned to see who grabbed him with a glare. It was Daisuke. His face softens slightly at the sight of the jock.

“You are sitting with us today,” Daisuke announced to Ichirou pulling him over to the lab where Juan was sitting.

“Wait, shouldn’t I-” Ichirou tried to get his words in as he was gently pushed to the stool that was between Juan and Daisuke.

“No, Mini Ka-yu. The only time we sit with our lab partners is when it’s a lab day. Other than that, we can sit with whoever we want to. And since Kenji isn’t here today, we decided we won’t let you sit alone.” Juan told Ichirou, as Ichirou placed his binder on the table.

Ichirou raised a brow. “How do you know he isn’t here today?” He looked at the two of them.

“It’s Wednesday. Kenji rarely comes to school on hump day. He’s probably out humping whoever he wants to hump.” Daisuke patted Ichirou’s back. “Also, we know the rumors have spread because even teachers are talking about you.”

“Oh, great.” Ichirou slumped his shoulders. “What are they going to do to me now?”

Juan shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. They will probably treat you like they treat Kenji. They tell Kenji what to do, but if Kenji doesn’t do what they say, they drop it. You could get up in the middle of class and the teacher won’t do a thing about it. Plus, makes it easier for you to sit with us. They won’t tell you to move, watch.” Juan pointed his finger quickly as the teacher came into the class and looked around the room. He had a sheet with him and was marking who was there and who wasn’t there, till his eyes landed on Ichirou in between the two jocks. A silent huff was taken from the teacher and he continued to mark off everyone who was there or not there. Kenji was the only one not there. “Told you,” Juan whispered in a singsong tone.

Ichirou waited for the teacher to begin class, and opened up his binder. He wasn’t paying attention to the teacher’s lesson. No, he needed to get his work done and Daisuke and Juan didn’t stop him either as he completed his Language assignment, before going on to the math homework. Just as he finished the math homework, a science sheet was handed to him by the teacher.

“I would suggest following along in class and not doing your homework. Though seeing as yesterday you completed the whole science worksheet I gave to everyone with finer details, I’ll allow it this once, Mr. Matsumoto.” The teacher walked away and handed out more sheets to everyone else.

Daisuke snorted. “You know we didn’t need to fill out that sheet if we didn’t want to.” He told Ichirou with an elbow nudge to his ribcage.

Ichirou flinched slightly and shook his head. “I’m not like you brainless baboons. I have a brain.” Ichirou chuckled.

“I’m not that brainless. I get B’s, mostly.” Juan defended himself with a playful hurt look on his face, Daisuke just laughed, but the teacher shot at glare at them and they got to work on their science sheet. This was everything the teacher had just told them, so it seemed more like fill it out yourself test study sheet. Ichirou shook his head. He wasn’t paying attention, but everything seemed easy enough to fill out.

Daisuke cleared his throat and Ichirou looked at him, he directed his eyes to his paper. One of the questions it asked, Ichirou filled it out to the best of his knowledge, but on Daisuke’s sheet, what he wrote down was the complete opposite of Ichirou’s answer. “Fix yours,” Daisuke mumbled.

Ichirou got the hint and wrote down what Daisuke had written down, but in his own words. That was a close one Ichirou guessed, as he shifted his eyes to Juan’s worksheet too. Juan had the same answer Daisuke had to the question, so it was clear Ichirou had messed up. He was going to have to pay more attention in class to catch on before he made more mistakes.

After finishing the worksheet, Ichirou leaned back on his stool with his back against the other lab table behind him. Daisuke took his paper, looked over everything, and was kind of shocked by what he saw Ichirou write. “Damn, you do have a brain. Brain and muscles.” He smiled at Ichirou.

Juan snatched Ichirou’s paper from Daisuke and looked it over as well, then started copying some of what Ichirou had written down. Ichirou shook his head. “You know, you should ask first.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have a brain,” Juan said, finishing up what he was writing down and passing Ichirou’s sheet back to him. “Mini Ka-yu is going to be the dorkiest kid in school and I can’t believe I’m saying that.”

Ichirou sighed. “I’m not a dork. I have one, but I’m not acting like one.” Both Daisuke and Juan looked back at him with confusion written on their faces. Ichirou straightens up. “Dork is slang for penis. Dating back a few hundred years and after that, it became referred to as a socially awkward person. I am not socially awkward, everyone is just avoiding me and I don’t act like a dick, though I might as well start acting like one since the whole Kenji thing.”

“Man, just…” Daisuke shook his head. “Shut up. We don’t need a lesson in language. That’s what Language class is for, you nerd.”

Ichirou snorted as Juan grinned happily. “Now, I’m being called a nerd again. Oh boy.” Ichirou chuckled as Juan patted Ichirou’s shoulder. They were being a talking loud bunch in the class that the teacher stood up from his place and cleared his throat.

“Please, continue your work, and wait silently for the bell, lads.” The teacher didn’t single them out by name. Daisuke covered his face as Juan put his head on the lab table, trying to stop himself from laughing anymore.

A few more minutes passed before the bell rang and Ichirou gathered up his stuff and was going to take his worksheet to the front, but Daisuke took it from him. “Come sit with us at lunchtime. I’ll hand these in for us.”

Ichirou nodded his head and made his way out of the classroom, still everyone moved away to let him leave first. Leon was waiting for Ichirou outside his classroom before coming up to him. “Hey, guess what I heard.” He had something to say to Ichirou.

“What is it?” Ichirou said with no tone in his voice as he walked with Leon down the hall.

“I overheard Spike telling the class, that Kenji is throwing a beach party this weekend. Now, I’m not sure about you, but if we can hold off Dameian till then...” Leon's voice trailed off. Ichirou was catching on to the idea. It would be perfect. A beach party and no one around to stop them or call authorities on them.

Ichirou nodded his head. “That perfect timing. Now, we just have to get Dameian in on it. He needs his revenge and we will let him have his revenge.” He chuckled as Leon laughed. They made their way down the steps, to the locker area and found Dameian standing by his locker, looking kind of pissed. Ichirou went to his locker as Leon walked over to Dameian. He threw his binder inside and joined Dameian and Leon, Leon had just told Dameian there was a beach party this weekend.

“A beach party? You guys want to go to a party for what reason?” Dameian questioned as he looked at Leon and Ichirou.

“Get revenge on Ryoji. It’d be the perfect setting, wouldn’t it be?” Leon told Dameian as he looked at Ichirou, who was nodding his head.

“Fine.” Dameian sighed. “I was getting pumped up to take Ryoji on right now, but I haven’t seen him yet and I don’t even know where Darius took off to. He said he had to catch up with some of his friends. You know, the girly type.”

“Ah, well. Let’s go get lunch.” Leon said as the three of them headed back up the staircase.

“I’m not eating, Darius has our lunches in his locker, so yeah,” Dameian informed them as they walked up the staircase, Ichirou was walking in the middle of the two and still students were moving out of their way, or more so, out of Ichirou’s way.

“I’ll buy it,” Ichirou said, and Leon looked at Ichirou with a grin. “I’ll buy Dameian’s lunch, not yours.” Leon’s grin faltered from his face. Ichirou chuckled.

They walked into the cafeteria, made their way to the lunch line. Leon grabbed a tray, same with Dameian. Ichirou was just following the two, and grabbed a water bottle for himself, and placed it on Dameian’s tray as Dameian grabbed some food. Once Leon had paid for his, and Ichirou paid for his water bottle and Dameian’s lunch. Ichirou leads them through the crowded cafeteria, where everyone was making room for them to pass and Ichirou walking towards the table where all the football jocks were sitting at. A few girls were sitting with them too, so it wasn’t a complete sausage fest.

“I like this. It’s like getting the red carpet rolled out for you.” Dameian commented as they sat at the table.

Leon shook his head. “Having the school fear Ichirou isn’t a good thing. He’s not like Kenji.”

Hitsu was there and moved to sit across from Ichirou, so he was sitting beside Leon as Ichirou and Dameian were sitting next to each other. “Mini Ka-yu, have you gotten a text from Niko? I’m worried about him. After he and Kojima went to the doctors, he hasn’t said anything to anyone and I think he skipped school today as well.”

Ichirou raised a brow and looked at his phone, he had a lot of unread messages, so he opened up his messages, one from Jeremy, a few from Dameian and Leon, one from his father even, but none from Niko. “No, he did.”

“Damn, Kojima doesn’t know what’s up either. It’s not like him to skip out of school without a good reason.” Hitsu slammed his fist on the table. “Kojima left to see if Niko was alright at home still. It’s making me even worry about him.”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Niko will come out and say what’s up with him once he’s had time to calm down. He probably got told he has an infection or some kind of bacteria in his gut, and to keep it from spreading he is taking the precaution to stay away, till it passes or the antibiotics kick it out.”

Hitsu raised a brow at him now. Confusion clear on his face. “You think it’s that? I mean, I get it, but why not tell us what’s up if it’s something that can be treated. If we get it then we know what needs to be done.”

“Niko is like a private person, though very outgoing as you can tell. He hides behind his smile to make you think he is okay until he does break down.” Ichirou looked at Hitsu with a serious face.

“True. That is him.” Hitsu nodded his head. “I guess it could be something that you said. He’s just being cautious to not spread it.” Seems Hitsu was going to take Ichirou’s word for it.

Under the table though, Ichirou was typing a message to Niko to tell him what is up and why everyone was worried about him. Though, just as he sends the message, Niko and Kojima start walking into the cafeteria. Niko is smiling and looks healthy, wearing his usual attire of baggy crotch pants and an oversize shirt, with a flat beak cap on his head tilted. Kojima turned and kissed Niko before taking off to probably get them some food, so Niko walked over to the table and sat down.

“Hey, Niko. How are you feeling?” Hitsu asked, a worried expression on his face.

Niko smiled. “I’m fine. Seriously. I just overslept today. Feeling slightly drained of energy.” He went off to give himself excuses.

“Did the doctor tell you why?” Leon butted in, having followed the previous conversation of Ichirou and Hitsu.

“Not sure yet, but the blood work will come in soon. I hope.” Niko gave a forced smile now. Ichirou was wondering what it was that Niko was hiding. He looked healthy, so just what was it?

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Ichirou reached over a stole a chip from Dameian’s plate. Dameian went to open his mouth but Ichirou gave him a look. “I bought it.” Dameian nodded his head and just continued eating. Kojima came up with a tray and sat beside Ichirou, but across from Niko and put the tray between them both. Then Niko placed his hand on the table and Kojima took his hand in his and they held hands as they ate their food.

“Are you two a thing now?” Lyle came out of nowhere leaning slightly over Kojima’s shoulder, stealing a bite of their food from the tray.

“Fuck off, Lyle.” Kojima smacked Lyle’s hand away from their tray. “And it’s none of your business.”

Lyle laughed. “If you two love birds don’t want it to be our business, then stop with the P.D.A.” He snatched a bite from out of Kojima’s hand and moved away fast.

“He’s got you there, Kojima.” Hitsu pointed out. “If you don’t want everyone to know your banging then keep it on the down-low.”

“We aren’t banging.” Kojima scowled at Hitsu. “And our relationship is no one's business.”

“That’s not what I heard last night,” Lyle spoke up, and Kojima snapped his neck in his direction. Lyle squealed and took off running, as Kojima got up and ran after him. Ichirou chuckled and looked at Niko, who had broken out in a blush but was smiling sweetly like it didn’t bother him one bit.

“Though, seriously Niko. Are you and Kojima dating?” Ichirou asked the question without coming off as being harsh.

Niko wiggled a bit in his seat, before nodding his head. “Yeah, yesterday. He asked me out when he took me out for supper, and it just seemed like the right thing to do. I always said I wouldn’t date till after high school, but I don’t know.”

Ichirou nodded his head at Niko’s words. He didn’t care, he was just curious like the rest of them. He opened his bottle of water and down half of it before something caught his eye. Walking through the cafeteria was Darius, and he wasn’t with his other friends. He was following behind Ryoji, who held his hand and was making Darius follow him. Dameian and Leon were too soaked up in their conversation to even notice what was going on.

Something was up, but it wasn’t Ichirou’s place to get involved. He would protect Darius if he needed Ichirou to, but Darius didn’t look scared, he actually looked more embarrassed than anything else. If he was crying or screaming then Ichirou would have followed.

Returning to have a conversation with Hitsu, Ichirou was finding that today was more pleasant than yesterday. No Kenji there to piss him off. There was still the fact most of the student body was afraid of him, but really, Ichirou kind of started liking that feeling of being someone to be feared.


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug Use, Underage Drinking

It was Saturday morning, Ichirou was glad to have a day without seeing Kenji. The last two days, Kenji and Ichirou butted heads, but not fists. Everyone at school was fearful when Ichirou and Kenji were in the same room. Kenji was being cocky with Ichirou and Ichirou was egging Kenji on. Though, the teachers took it upon themselves to separate them in class. That still didn’t stop Kenji from throwing paper at Ichirou and annoying him.

Another thing that happened at school was Darius’ attitude. First, he was fearful of Ryoji at the beginning of the week, wore pants to school. Then it was like the next minute Darius was wearing darker clothes and back to wearing skirts. Even had a black streak dyed in his natural red hair. Dameian was trying to understand him, but Darius told Dameian to not worry about it, he was feeling like his old self. Darius didn’t sit with them during lunch only during Language Class and it was only after Ichirou saw Darius with Ryoji that one day at lunchtime.

Getting up, Ichirou didn’t feel like sleep in, not with a day without Kenji, he wanted to get as much time to himself as he could, before that night. Something about Kenji throwing a party down at the beach. Leon got the information and it was only then they realized they would have to catch the last bus to the beach and walk home from there or find themselves rides. Leon got them a ride, his sister was more than willing to drive Leon there with Dameian, as she had the night off. Leon asked Ichirou if he wanted a ride there, but Ichirou told him his father was back in town and he would probably get a ride there with him. He planned to spend the night at Leon’s so it worked out.

Ichirou pulled on a pair of sweat pants and left his room to grab himself a blood package and suck it back. Everyone in the house was still asleep. Ichirou enjoyed spending time with Eliza and Yuriel, but he was finding himself wanting more time to himself, sit in his room, play video games, or read comic books. His phone buzzed a bit on his bed, as he had it on vibrate when he walked back into his room. He looked at it and picked it up, answering the call. “Hey, father. What’s up?”

“Hey. Can you come out for a bit?” Kazayuki sounded nervous to Ichirou, or it was just his imagination.

“Yeah, when?”

“Now?”

Ichirou blinked. “Sure, but everyone is still sleeping.”

“Perfect. Meet me at the garage in a few.” And Kazayuki ended the call. That was strange, Ichirou thought as he looked down at his phone. He knew his father got home yesterday, but why was he up this early? And why did he want Ichirou to come out? Many questions were running through Ichirou’s head, as he put his phone down and got dressed. Plain blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He grabbed a hoodie, putting it on, and zipping up the zipper and putting the hood up. He left his room and still no one was up, as he put his converse shoe on and left the suite. He took the elevator down. He was going down a lower level, to the underground parking garage.

Kazayuki was there and waiting for Ichirou. His father must have been here already or drove faster than the speed limit to get here. “Hop into the car,” Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou as he climbed into the driver's side and Ichirou headed to the passenger side of the car and climbed in. “How was your first week of school?” Kazayuki asked.

“Fine, I guess. Well, after the first day you already know about it. Got into a disagreement with him the second day, and after that nothing.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t need to tell his father exactly who he was talking about.

“So, you think you two can be civil with each other?” Kazayuki asked, making Ichirou chuckle.

“Civil? We will never be civil with each other.” Ichirou smirked. “Kojima and I are civil but still have an issue with being in the same room.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” Kazayuki sighed. “I need you two in the same room, to sort all this out and hopefully it will correct some of the anger you two have for each other.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. He highly doubts anything said would fix anything between them. Kenji hated Ichirou. Ichirou disliked Kenji. They picked on each other at school, just shy of it getting violent. Most of the student body feared them. Well, everyone feared Kenji the most, Ichirou was getting into the crowd of jocks so he wasn’t completely feared.

They pulled up to the old house where Junji, Kiyo, Yutaka, and Yutaka’s girlfriend lived. Ichirou looked at his father. “Just come inside. You can drink whatever you want, just don’t get sloshed.”

Ichirou shook his head. “I don’t want to drink. I’m saving that tonight for this beach party happening. I wanted to ask you to drive me there tonight.”

Kazayuki nodded his head. “I guess I could do that. Two more years and you can drive yourself.” He ruffled Ichirou’s hair and got out of the car, Ichirou did the same and closed the door after. They walked up to the front door and Kazayuki when inside first, he was holding out a hand for Ichirou to wait before waving him inside.

Ichirou walked inside and he first saw Kiyo sitting in the armchair and Junji sitting on the arm of the armchair. Then the air got heavy and Ichirou’s tensed up and narrowed his eyes towards Kenji sitting on the couch. He didn’t notice John, Spike, Yutaka, or even Hayden in the room as he laid on Kenji. Kenji was staring back at him as his face twitched in anger. Kazayuki shut the door behind Ichirou.

“Now boys, I said I was going to get you two in the same room once I got back.” Kazayuki was standing almost between Ichirou and Kenji, looking between them. “We need to have a talk, a serious talk without-”

“Like I’ll listen to anything you have to say, old man. I won’t even listen to this piece of shit.” Kenji stood up from the couch. The coffee table in front of Kenji was being pulled away by Junji. There were drugs scattered on it, as well it was a glass coffee table, whether he was saving the table or the drugs, Ichirou was just glad it was gone. The only obstacle in his way and Ichirou didn’t wait for Kenji to make the first move as he did.

Ichirou rushed past Kazayuki and plowed his fist into Kenji’s face knocking him back on the couch, on top of Hayden, but Ichirou followed him, grabbing his muscle shirt and repeating his action of punching Kenji in the face. Hayden had squealed and moved as fast as he could from under Kenji. John was the other person that sat beside Kenji and he got up, raising his hands. Spike sat on the arm of the couch, laughing like a maniac.

“That’s enough!” Kazayuki grabbed Ichirou’s shoulders to pull him off. Though, pulling Ichirou off gave Kenji the opening he needed as he kicked Ichirou back into Kazayuki and started swinging his fist with precise aim. Ichirou blocked his face for a few before he added his fist in the mix, and tackled Kenji to the ground.

Before the fight could continue any farther, Yutaka had grabbed Ichirou off Kenji, and Kenji was picked up and held back by Kazayuki. The two adults were holding back the two teens who were close to adults now. Both Kenji and Ichirou were panting, death glaring each other.

“Come, let me check out your nose, Hayden,” Junji said, as he leads Hayden out of the room. The Angel had a bleeding nose for being in the way of Ichirou’s attack, as Kenji’s head smashed into Hayden’s nose.

Ichirou had a bleeding lip and a cut above his eye, where Kenji had a bleeding nose and a black eye. No bones were broken between the two yet. Ichirou was starting to growl lowly, as Kenji seethed. They were catching their breaths before going another round. There were just waiting to be released.

“I heard their fight was rank, but this is something else.” John made an input. “It’s like their auras are battling it out with no contact.”

Kenji started to shake, he was getting ready to attack again. Ichirou calmed down, even though he was growling in his throat. Their eyes never each other, not for a second. Ichirou felt Yutaka releasing his grip on Ichirou’s arms, and a smirk slowly appeared on Ichirou’s face, and all it took was one movement and Ichirou had released himself and punched Kenji in the gut before Ichirou was slammed hard on his back on the floor right in front of Kenji. A knee on his chest and hand on his throat that belonged to Yutaka and his arms were being held down by another above his head. Though, Ichirou didn’t pull his eyes from Kenji.

This time it was Kenji’s turn to smirk. “Guess it does take more than one weakling to hold you done.”

“Fuck, you are being held by one and still can’t make a move on me. Shows how strong you are.” Ichirou chuckled, dryly. Those words pissed Kenji off, that he tried to escape Kazayuki’s hold on him, but it was no use.

“Are you two done with your little show of who is stronger than who?” Kazayuki growled at them. “I want to have a decent conversation with you two without fists.”

“Ha, Kenji doesn’t have any idea what decent even means.” Ichirou spat out.

“Like the fuck you do?” Kenji hissed out. “You punched me first.”

“Because I knew as soon as someone said something, you would take the chance to attack me. I don’t need a distraction created for me to attack.” Ichirou smirked, which Kenji huffed out at him. “I’m right, fight dirty, or go home.”

“Fucking kid doesn’t know the first thing about fighting dirty. He’s just a baby bitch. Gets into a few scraps and he’s a fucking expert.” Kenji struggled to move his arms away from Kazayuki. “I’ve killed a fucker for thinking he was better than me.”

“Oh, but you won’t kill me! You enjoy fighting me. I can see it in your eyes that you get off on it.” Ichirou growled, he was calm as he could be being held down, he wasn’t fighting back, but his blood was boiling for the chance to continue.

“Like fuck.” Kenji spat at Ichirou. “I’ll only get off in your ass again when I have you under me.”

At those words, Yutaka turned his head towards Kenji. “Did I hear you correctly? Again?” He wasn’t letting Ichirou go so easily this time.

“Kenji, what the fuck have you done?” Kazayuki growled in Kenji’s ear. “Did you fuck your brother?”

Ichirou's face wasn’t giving away any emotion, he was close to calm as he was going to get with an emotionless face, waiting for the chance. “Come on, tell them how you took my ass in a fucking classroom, and carved your name into my back to make me your property. If you won’t tell them, I’m sure your two buddies here will talk, as they were holding me down for you.”

Kazayuki was looking at the other two, John and Spike, though they didn’t say a thing your change their expressions. They played this game before. Kazayuki sunk his fangs into Kenji’s neck, making Kenji struggle against Kazayuki. Kazayuki drained Kenji enough till the other was done struggling and could barely stand up on his own two feet, as Kenji fell to his knees, holding his neck, panting.

“You’re disgusting.” Kazayuki pushed his boot against Kenji’s shoulder, making the other topple over on his side, Kenji was giving Kazayuki a deathly glare. “You’re the big brother, you’re supposed to keep your younger brother from getting into that situation and you put him in that situation.” Kazayuki squatted beside Kenji. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Kenji’s eyes were off of Ichirou’s and on Kazayuki. “I fucking loved it.” He smirked and at that Kazayuki punched Kenji in the side of the face and got up.

“Sorry, Kiyo. I thought this would have been different.” Kazayuki said, running a hand through his hair. He looked down at Ichirou who was still being pinned to the floor. “I understand why you didn’t hold back, Ichirou.” He nodded his head to tell the other two to release Ichirou, and just as they did, Ichirou was ready to attack Kenji, but Kazayuki was faster at guessing his movements and grabbed Ichirou by the collar of his shirt. “No, he’s down. You don’t fight that dirty.”

Ichirou glared at Kenji, who was trying to pick himself off the floor. He looked at Kazayuki and sighed. Ichirou closed his eyes as he was lead to the couch by the collar of his shirt and made to sit down on it. Before Kenji was picked up by Kazayuki as well and made to sit on the couch on the other side of Ichirou. Ichirou opened his eyes and seen that Kenji was sitting on the couch as well before Kazayuki sat between them. John and Spike were standing close to Kenji, Yutaka was sitting in the chair next to them. Kiyo was sitting in the armchair closes to Ichirou, as Junji and Hayden walked back into the living room from the hallway.

Hayden was shocked to see Kenji holding his neck, where blood covered his hand a bit. Though the bite mark had probably already healed, it was still a painful bite that Kazayuki inflicted on him. Hayden moved across the room to kneel in front of Kenji.

“What happened? Did Ichirou bite you?” Hayden’s soft-sounding voice sounded like it was filled with venom when he said Ichirou’s name.

Kenji just shook his head and closed his eyes. Kazayuki nudged Kenji, and his eyes snapped back open and glared at Kazayuki. “You need blood, don’t you?” Kazayuki asked, a cheeky grin on his face. “Fine, I’ll be right back.” Kazayuki left the room to the kitchen. Everyone was quiet, though Ichirou could feel Hayden staring at him, hard. The poor Angel just didn’t have it in him to give a glare.

Kazayuki came back with a bottle of rum and a blood package. He handed the blood package to Kenji, who was more than happy to receive it, and handed the rum bottle to Ichirou. This made a few wondered what Kazayuki was up to. Was he trying to cause another fight?

Once Kenji was done with the blood package, Yutaka took it away from him to go put it in the garbage. Kenji cracked his neck and looked down at Hayden, that bit of blood he had just sucked back gave his body more movement, but he was still hungry and needed to get his blood count back up, that was clear from the whites of his eyes turning red. His eyes trained on Hayden, he patted his lap and Hayden sighed, crawling up on Kenji’s lap, facing him and exposing his neck. Kenji wrapped his arms around Hayden and sunk his teeth into Angel’s neck. Hayden let out a gasp from the initial pain. Ichirou was kind of surprised no one was stopping Kenji from feeding on Hayden, especially his father.

Kenji pulled away, getting what he could classify as a fill and licked the bite mark, it would heal, slowly, but Kazayuki grabbed Ichirou’s left hand by surprised and held it to Hayden’s neck. Ichirou looked at his father with a scowl, but he closed his eyes and fixed it. Hayden had the blood to repair his neck, must to Ichirou’s surprise, that when he opened his eyes and pulled his hand away, Kenji was looking at him with narrowed eyes and Hayden was touching his neck the wound was gone, as if it wasn’t there anymore.

Kazayuki cleared his throat. “Alright, you three,” He pointed at Hayden and Kenji’s other two friends that were standing there. “Get out.” Hayden shook his head, as John shrugged his shoulders and pulled Spike along with him to the front door.

“Dude, I want to see another fight. Can’t we stay?” Spike was pleading, with a grin on his face. His black eyes seem to gleam in anticipation of another fight.

“Get out, or I’ll make you,” Kazayuki growled and Hayden shook with fear, fear was radiating off him now. Kenji looked at Hayden in disgust and pushed Hayden off of him.

“John will take you home,” Kenji told Hayden, who picked himself up off the floor and was looking at Kenji with a pout on his lips. It wasn’t going to work on him, as Kenji crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Hayden. Ichirou felt a need, a strange need to comfort Hayden, something he hasn’t felt since when they were friends in elementary school. Though, Hayden turned and headed out the door, helping John get Spike out of the house as Yutaka closed the door behind them.

“Now, we need to talk.” Kazayuki folded his hands up as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I don’t want either of you speaking.”

“Whatever.” Kenji wasn’t caring as he was still looking away from them and arms folded across his chest. Ichirou just leans back into the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, loosely.

“You are both of my sons, and you two are going to have to learn to get along.” Kazayuki started. “It’s true, Kenji’s mother kept her pregnancy away from me. I was drugged out like she was at the time. She disappeared one night and never returned, which I didn’t understand why. She kept you a secret from me, Kenji. I want you to understand that.”

“The monster said you didn’t want her having me, so who am I going to believe? I spent my life knowing you were my old man and now you want me to believe you over the monster?” Kenji mumbled his words, but they all heard him.

Kazayuki growled lowly. “I said to keep your mouth shut.” He was looking at Kenji with a glare. “I want you both to understand that I didn’t even know about you. Just like I didn’t even know about Ichirou till he was handed off to me when he was two.” Kenji looked towards Kazayuki. “That’s right. I didn’t even know about Ichirou either, but I had a choice when he was left to me. Give him up or take care of him. I choose to raise him.” He looked at Ichirou, who was more interested in looking at the floor, and sighed. “When Ichirou was in school and learned that I may have another child, I kept it from him and started figuring out who this Ryoji kid was and who his family. That’s when I found out Mizuki’s dealer, was Ryoji’s sister and I followed her one night and that when I discovered who was, Kenji. You are my son. Same with you, Ichirou.”

Ichirou shook his head. “What’s the point you are trying to make? You want the three of us to be one big happy family? You know that’s not going to be possible.”

“I understand, but I want you two to stop fighting over my affection. I can feel it, from both of you. Kenji, you feel it the worst, the longing need to be near me. Ichirou, you feel the abandonment that I’m putting you through and the need to be close to me. That’s why I sent you away when you turned sixteen,” Kazayuki looked at Kenji, before turning to Ichirou. “That’s why you are staying with Mizuki. I could have removed you from living under his roof once Yuriel was confirmed to not be my child, but we need to learn boundaries and the jealousy needs to end.”

Ichirou was listening, he was coming up with something in his head. “Wait. Was this why you missed my birthday because you were moving him out of the apartment?” Ichirou lifted his face and turned to Kazayuki.

“Yes, as it was your fourteenth birthday, it was Kenji’s sixteenth birthday. I had to choose between the both of you, and I didn’t want to do that. I don’t want to do that again, so that’s why we need to clear the air and get you two act like brothers and not like mortal enemies. I thought of us living under the same roof, but that’s far from possible, so living in separate homes is for the best.” Kazayuki explained it to Ichirou. “I don’t care how you treat each other when I’m not around, but when I am around, I want you both to be friendly to each other, not fighting. Is that understood?”

Ichirou looked at the bottle of rum in his hand and twisted the cap off and took a couple of swigs from the bottle, before standing up. He hated this idea, of acting like he was alright with Kenji after what he did to him. He took another swig from the bottle, before moving in front of Kenji, Ichirou could tell Kenji wasn’t going to move or even agree with Kazayuki, but Ichirou was going to be the bigger person. “Fine, I won’t fight Kenji when your around, father. What do you say?”

Kenji looked at Ichirou out the corner of his eye. Ichirou was offering his hand for a shake and the rum bottle too. He looked at Kazayuki and he snarled. “Fine. Only when you are around we are brothers.” He yanked the bottle out of Ichirou’s hand and took a swig from it and shook Ichirou’s hand with his other hand.

Kazayuki smirked. “Also another thing. If you both are going to fight, don’t fight to kill each other. I don’t need to plan out two funerals at once.” Both, Kenji and Ichirou looked at him with confused looks on their faces. “I know what you both are capable of, and I know if one of you is out for blood, you both won’t stop till you are both dead.”

“I won’t die. I’ll keep regenerating my blood.” Kenji smirked at Ichirou as he squeezed Ichirou's hand.

Ichirou didn’t even flinch when he heard a bone snap in his hand as he reached for the bottle of rum and took a sip. “I can’t die when I can do this.” He closed his eyes, pulling his hand out of Kenji’s grasp and the bone that Kenji snapped in his hand popped back into place like nothing ever happened. Ichirou smirked as he opened his eyes.

Both, Kiyo and Junji were looking at the two, with shock. They could each do something to keep themselves alive. A fight between the two of them wouldn’t be a good idea, especially if Ichirou used Kenji’s blood regeneration ability to heal himself by feeding on Kenji. Though, why Kenji didn’t regenerate his blood when Kazayuki was feeding on him was a question they didn’t ask.

Kenji snarled and got up off the couch and push Ichirou out of his way. “Got a party to plan.” He walked over to Kiyo and Junji and started gathering up all the bags he had brought over of drugs off the coffee table that was pulled away during their fight. “I have to drop off some shit to the monster, old man. I’m going to need a ride.”

Kazayuki looked at Ichirou. “I guess I can drive you over there.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from the rum bottle before he put the cap back on the bottle.

“I’m going to head out. I told Jeremy I was going to help him with his homework before the party, then you can pick me up at Mizuki’s later.” Ichirou told Kazayuki, as Kenji stood up with a backpack slung over his one shoulder.

“You aren’t coming to the beach party.” Kenji clicked his tongue at Ichirou.

“I am. I have to be there to keep things from going out of control.” Ichirou smirked.

“Like hell things will get out of control.” Kenji wasn’t looking impressed. “If you show up, I will bury you in the sand.”

“You’d have to catch me first. Besides, I’m not to fight you.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders.

“Whatever, stay away from me and I won’t have to introduce you to my fist again.” Kenji scuffled as he started for the door and Kazayuki had got up off the couch. The two left and Ichirou walked to the kitchen and put the rum bottle back under the cupboard. He reached for his phone in his back pocket and texted Jeremy, before healing up his split lip and the cut above his eye.


	48. Chapter 48

Spending most of the day at Jeremy’s place, Ichirou met Jeremy’s parents, and that started awkwardly. Sure, Jeremy had a darker skin tone, but his parents weren’t, though they were human just like Jeremy. Ichirou got the clue Jeremy was probably adopted, but it was when his parent’s asked if Ichirou was a Vampire. Ichirou casually told them he was, then came the questions Ichirou was stuck answering. Was Ichirou turned? Did Ichirou feed on humans? How was Ichirou able to survive the sunlight? Why Ichirou’s eyes were the color red? And the final question, after there hounding through others about Ichirou, why was he here?

Ichirou answered to the best of his understanding, thanks to the knowledge passed down to him until Ichirou finally told them why he was there. They looked shocked. Ichirou went on explaining that the island was full of others like him and they weren’t in any danger, unlike living on the mainland. That when Ichirou realized they must have just moved here recently.

After the questioning period, Ichirou and Jeremy when into the kitchen room of their decently big house and began to go through everything Jeremy was taking. Ichirou found everything to be just like his classes, things he already knew beforehand, or learned about in elementary school. He thought trying to teach someone was going to be like pulling teeth, but Jeremy was catching on to what Ichirou was saying and even answering questions Ichirou asked. Jeremy wasn’t dumb as he thought he was, he was smart, just needed the one on one teachings.

As Ichirou expected, his parents came into the kitchen ever so often, to check on them, though they came in with an excuse for a snack, water, or just checking the fridge. Jeremy’s parents must not get out much to understand Vampires aren’t dangerous, though if they didn’t get out much, how were they making money and afford to live here?

By the time they ended their lessons, Ichirou realized he had to go home. So, just as he was leaving, Jeremy asked what he was doing tonight and Ichirou told him about the beach party tonight. Jeremy seemed interested in going, though he wasn’t sure if he could go. Ichirou said he was going with Dameian and Leon, and well that made Jeremy ask if he could go with Ichirou then. Ichirou was more than happy to let Jeremy come with him. Jeremy went to ask his parents, and they returned with Jeremy. They thanked Ichirou for helping Jeremy with his school work and told Jeremy he could go since he told them Leon was going. Humans must stick together, Ichirou thought.

Jeremy’s mother stopped the two from leaving, as she went and got her purse. She handed Jeremy a few ten-dollar bills, before turning to Ichirou and handed him a couple of hundred dollar bills. Ichirou tried to not accept it, but she insisted that Ichirou take it for helping Jeremy with school and accepting Jeremy as a friend. Ichirou took the money as he and Jeremy left.

When they got to Ichirou’s place, it was surprisingly empty. No sign of Mizuki. No Eliza or Yuriel. Ichirou thought that was strange till he walked up to the kitchen cupboard. Mizuki was going to be out tonight and that Eliza and Yuriel were at Yomi’s. Ichirou walked to the fridge and pulled out a blood package, as Jeremy was checking out the patio.

“Dude, you got a pool.” Sure it was small, but Jeremy looked at it like it was a big deal.

“Yeah, enough to cool off on hot days, but not much use.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders, before biting into the blood package. Jeremy turned around to face Ichirou, and his face paled at the sight of Ichirou sucking back the blood contents in the package. Ichirou turned his back to Jeremy and sucked it back faster, before throwing it in the trash. “Sorry,” Ichirou said, turning back around.

Jeremy shook his head. “I just never seen Vampires actually feed. Even when you told my parents that you didn’t feed off of people, I was wondering how you feed on them.” Jeremy came over to Ichirou and sat on a stool at the kitchen island. “Do all Vampires have a weird feeding habit? I usually don’t see the guys on the football team not eat much.”

Ichirou shrugged his shoulders. “I have my habits, but as for others, I’m not sure. I do drink more blood than my family, but I also drink water when we sit down for supper. I kind of skip eating food all together now.” Ichirou looked towards the TV. “If you like, you can flip on the TV. I’m going to have a quick shower before our ride gets here.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jeremy smiled at Ichirou and hopped off the stool and walked over to the TV and turned it on with the remote, as Ichirou went down the hallway and hopped into the shower. He was going to have a quick shower, even though he was going out to a beach. He had never really been to the beach, but what he did know there were sand and water.

Ichirou got out of the shower and headed to his room to change. This time he skipped putting on jean pants. He pulled out a pair of black baggy jean shorts. He never wore them really, unless around the house. He pulled on a white muscle shirt. Looking at himself in his mirror, he ran his hand through his hair and ruffled up his hair. His naturally spiky black hair, when ruffled spiked in different directions, at least when it was wet. He went with that look and left his bedroom.

Though when he walked into the open concept area, Jeremy was sitting on the couch with Yuriel beside him and they were just talking. “I was just wondering how you get braids that tight on your head.” Yuriel’s words hit Ichirou’s ears.

“No worries. Just look up how to do cornrows. I’m sure there is something out there.” Jeremy smiled, as he turned his head as Yuriel was waving at Ichirou.

Ichirou smirked and Yuriel got up and hugged Ichirou. “Oh, I’m not staying long, Ichirou. I’m grabbing some things I forgot.” Yuriel released Ichirou and gave him a peck on the cheek, before taking off down the hallway.

“Damn, Ichirou. Your sister is hot.” Jeremy spoke out softly, as Ichirou rolled his eyes.

“Yuriel is ten. Keep your eyes to yourself.” Ichirou pulled out his phone as he texted his father. Jeremy snapped his fingers as he turned back to the TV. “I’m sure Leon said he was going to be there by six, but I think we should get there by seven. We should grab something to eat and any drinks we want before going.”

“I’m up for food. Though, I don’t have any money to get any beer.” Jeremy smacked his lips. “I’m fine, I don’t think my parents would like it if I came home drunk. I’m only thirteen and they kept me shelter mostly. Though, I have gone out with other friends, where their parents gave us beer, only because there was a party going on at their place when I slept over.”

Ichirou smirked. “Rebel that you are. Just you wait till the football team starts throwing their parties.” He chuckled. “Why not tell your parents that Leon is asking if you’ll stay over tonight?”

“Would be a good idea if Leon’s sister was here to talk to them.” Jeremy sighed.

“Call them, I got the perfect plan.” Ichirou turned away from Jeremy, as Jeremy pulled his phone out to call his parents. Ichirou had dragged Yuriel out of the bedroom and was whispering in Yuriel’s ear.

“Yeah, Leon’s sister said it’s okay.” Jeremy was on the phone as Ichirou held out his hand for Jeremy to hand him the phone. Jeremy handed the phone to Ichirou with a puzzled look and Ichirou winked and handed the phone to Yuriel.

“Hey, this is Mandy,” Yuriel spoke so feminine and preppy that Ichirou was trying to hold back a laugh. “Oh, yes. I’m letting Leon have a few friends over tonight after they get back. I bought some movies and chips for the boys to hang out here before it gets too late. I’ll be picking them up around 10 pm.” There was a bit of a pause Yuriel was standing there, twirling a bit of his blond hair around his finger. “Of course, I’ll make sure he calls you at midnight, just so you know he is safe and sound.” Yuriel looked at Jeremy, who nodded his head. “Alright, you have yourselves a good evening as well. Bye.” Yuriel handed the phone back to Jeremy, and Jeremy finished the phone call with his parents, before hanging up the phone.

“Man, I’m shocked.” Jeremy turned to face both Yuriel and Ichirou.

Ichirou put his arm around Yuriel’s shoulders. “Just say your thanks to Yuriel.”

“Thank you, Yuriel. You are a blessing from heaven.” Jeremy smiled at Yuriel.

Yuriel blushed a bit. “I know I’m a blessing, but from heaven?” Yuriel smiled brightly showing off fangs. “Though, I love your compliment.” Yuriel looked at Ichirou and hugged him before pulling back. “Yomi is probably wondering what’s taking me. I’ll see you guys later.” Yuriel waved at them before leaving the suite.

Jeremy blinked and looked at Ichirou. “I thought you said you had no relations to anyone in your family. Yuriel looked like an angel, blond hair, and blue eyes.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Humans have those colors too. Though, I don’t know who Yuriel’s father is, maybe human or Angel. Though Yuriel is a Vampire.”

“Ah, make sense.” Jeremy just agreed with Ichirou, as Ichirou’s phone started going off.

“Hey, man. Shut off the TV. My father is here. We’ll get something to eat before heading to the liquor store.” Ichirou said as he walked over to the door, as Jeremy got up, turned the TV off.

“You know I don’t have enough money to buy drinks too.” Jeremy frowned as he walked out the door.

Ichirou locked the door and turned to Jeremy and pulled out his wallet and handed Jeremy one of the hundred dollar bills his parents gave Ichirou. “That’s for you. Supper and drinks are on your parents.”

“Wait. What?” Jeremy asked Ichirou as they waited for the elevator.

“I didn’t want to be paid for being your friend. Friends help friends. I was helping with your schoolwork. And I don’t like how your mother said it was always for accepting you.” Ichirou shrugged his shoulders, as he looked at Jeremy. Jeremy looked like he was hurt by that comment. “What is it?”

“It’s just… I had a hard time fitting in at one of the previous schools I went to… because I’m black.” Jeremy talked like he was ripping off a bandage.

“Wait. You’re black? I did not notice it.” Ichirou spoke like he was shocked to find this out and placed his hands on both of Jeremy’s shoulders. “Look, man. I don’t care. Human, Angel, Vampire. Black, red, white. Everyone is different. I’m not judging you. Even though you did judge me at first for being the school bully.” Ichirou smirked.

“I just I’m used to people judging me and my parents are always worried about me being judged when we move to a new place. Doesn’t help they are judges themselves.” Jeremy looked up at Ichirou, a new spark in his dark eyes. “Thanks, man. I think I’ll like it here better than the mainland.”

“You are from the mainland too?” Ichirou questioned and Jeremy nodded his head. “I feel so much better now. I was born on the mainland, I know more about the mainland and the living styles there. I’m still learning about life here.”

“Then I guess we should stick together to learn together.” Jeremy laughed, he went from gloomy to cheerful and Ichirou was glad. They got on the elevator and headed down to the parking garage to meet up with Kazayuki.


	49. Chapter 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Drug Abuse, Underage Drinking

“We are here.”

As they pulled up to the beach, Kazayuki shut off the car after parking it. Ichirou looked over at his father. Kazayuki smirked at Ichirou. “If you think this is a party for high school kids, you are mistaken. Kenji only invited the football team from the high school, though who knows who else will show up? Kenji invited a bunch of adults too.” He opened his glove compartment and pulled out a bag with rolled joints. “I rolled a bunch, so take a few. Don’t touch anything here. More than likely everything is laced.”

Ichirou looked back at Jeremy, who had a wondering expression. Probably not used to parents being more giving than anything. Ichirou grabbed a few and Kazayuki handed Ichirou an empty cigarette pack and a lighter. “Thanks. I guess we will wait for Leon and Dameian here in the parking lot. I texted them and they said they were heading here soon.” He told Kazayuki, who nodded his head.

“Well, you boys have fun tonight and don’t get into too much trouble. Also, try to stay away from the older crowd. Knowing you, you’d end up fucking them.” Kazayuki chuckled as Ichirou pushed his father’s shoulder before getting out of the car and moving the sit for Jeremy to crawl out as well.

Kazayuki got out of the car and locked it as he walked towards where three bonfires were starting to be lit up. Jeremy looked at Ichirou. “Your father is so laid back. Wish my parents were like that.”

“No, you don’t.” Ichirou shook his head. “My father is living elsewhere in the city and I live with his ex. He has a few rules for me to follow, like don’t do hard drugs. He’s not much of a father unless he gets mad and that’s when shit can hit the fan. He just lets me get away with too much.” Ichirou knew the reasons, though he wondered what happened in his father’s past to make him not force more on Ichirou. He knew if it weren’t for Mizuki, Ichirou would have never gone to school.

“Well, I think your father is cool.” Jeremy held up the case of beer Kazayuki bought with the money Ichirou gave him. Ichirou chuckled and pulled out a mickey he had shoved into his baggy short’s pocket and twisted the cap and took a swig, before putting it back in his pocket. Jeremy opened up a can of beer and lean against the wooden barrier the car was parked in front of. “So, we sit here, drinking, and wait for Leon and Dameian?”

“That’s the plan. As far as I know.” Ichirou looked out at the road that leads them here to the beach. “I just hope cops don’t come this way.”

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. “When we headed down the road, there was a private property sign for this beach I seen. Kenji must own it or got the permission of the owners to throw a big ass party here.”

“Ah, then I guess as long as we keep it quiet, we don’t need to worry about the neighbors calling them,” Ichirou spoke, as Jeremy laughed at his words. There wasn’t a house out this way, except the one that was in front of the beach, near the bonfires. Other than that, there wasn’t another house for miles.

They didn’t have to wait long before Leon and Dameian showed up, Dameian got out of the car before it even came to a complete, slamming the door shut. Leon was still in the car as he saw Ichirou and was talking to his sister, Mandy. Dameian walked over to Ichirou.

“I’mma kill him. Darius is out here with Ryoji. He slipped and told me he was going to a party tonight and I asked who he was going with, and he dodged the question before I overheard him telling mama he was going out with Ryoji tonight.” This didn’t come as much of a shock to Ichirou, and Dameian, angered face seemed to get angrier. “You knew. Didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t know. I only saw Ryoji and Darius holding hands once during the week. I figured if Darius was in trouble he would come to us.” Ichirou had to tell Dameian what he knew, he didn’t want the fight to start between them.

Leon came over, sweating a bit, as Mandy waved to them and Ichirou gave her a wave. “So, Dameian. I don’t care how mad you are, don’t go slamming doors. You don’t know your strength when you are pissed. And cool off, you going to roast me again.” He shook his head as Dameian crossed his arms over his chest. Ichirou could feel a sense of heat coming off the redhead, he raised a brow.

“Do you guys want a beer?” Jeremy offered, pointing to the case of beer at his feet. Ichirou grabbed Dameian’s arm, who was about to reach for one. That was a big mistake. Ichirou felt like his hand had just caught on fire and it was starting to blister.

“Fuck, man.” Ichirou waved his hand and looked at the blisters forming on his hand. “Dameian, do you really think you should have one?”

Dameian sighed and backed off. “Sorry, I can’t control my flames or my heat when I’m angry.” He the look in his eyes showed he was sorry, but he was still angry.

Ichirou closed his hand and closed his eyes. It was simple tissue damage that he could repair with little effort. Leon grabbed a beer for himself and held one out for Dameian. “You need to cool off or you’ll roast your beer.” Leon looked at Dameian, who was trying to calm down, but he was still fuming.

“Where was this heat when you were fighting Ryoji last time?” Ichirou asked. If Dameian had the ability to create fire, even have his body act as a hot plate, why didn’t he do it then?

“I was drunk,” Dameian said, calmly. “If I get wasted it’s hard to create a flame. Though I have been known to create a fire when I am drunk, it’s something I have to concentrate on, or else it doesn’t happen. Though, it gets out of control when I do.”

Ichirou nodded his head as Jeremy was looking surprised. “Dude, you are the burning man,” Jeremy commented with a joke, Leon laughed lightly.

Dameian sighed. “So much for being a burning man. If Darius was around, he’d cool me off in an instant.” Seems like mentioning Darius got Dameian going again, or at least the heat coming off of him was reaching them as he was a few feet from them.

Leon cleared up what Dameian was talking about to Ichirou and Jeremy. “Dameian is the flame and Darius is the ice. The two complement each other and keep each other in check.” Ichirou nodded his head in understanding. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a mickey of rum.

“Come here, Dameian.” Ichirou walked closer to Dameian and he could even feel himself start to sweat. Dameian looked at Ichirou. “On your knees, I’ll pour.” He waved the mickey rum in the air. Dameian nodded his head and got on his knees in front of Ichirou, Ichirou took the cap off and poured a bit into Dameian’s mouth as he swallowed it without a problem.

Leon and Jeremy were standing behind them, in a fit of laughter. Ichirou stopped what he was doing and put the cap back on. “What are you guys laughing at?”

“Oh my… You had… kneeling… Looking…” Leon couldn’t even come out with a proper sentence as Ichirou looked back at Dameian, who wiped his mouth as he was on his knees.

Ichirou started to smirk. “Get up, before someone spreads a rumor that I made you give me a blow job.” He told Dameian, whose eyes went wide, as Leon and Jeremy burst out laughing harder than before. Dameian got up off the pavement and walked up to Leon and snatched the beer from Leon and downed it quickly.

“Bastards, all of you,” Dameian muttered and crushed the can between his hands. The hard alcohol had quickly cooled Dameian down, as he was a beer drinker, though it was probably the embarrassing position Ichirou had placed them in that made his anger die down.

After the two calmed down, they sat there drinking some more beer, as Ichirou drank from his mickey and smoked a joint. He didn’t share his joint, as the others were just happy with their beers. Made Ichirou glad he didn’t have to share. The sky got darker and most party-goers came and the fires burned brightly.

The four were probably the youngest there, beside Ryoji and Darius who were supposed to be there already, as more adults or older high school students showed up. A few jocks stopped to talk to Leon and Jeremy, as they were on the football team. Ichirou was glad to have Dameian calmed down, though he knew they would have to carry on soon and find Ryoji so Dameian could beat the shit out of him. That was their whole plan to come here after all.

A strange man came up to them, and by strange he was ragged clothes and he was human as Ichirou could tell, so he looked older than he probably. “Hey dudes, you guys want a hit on this?” He held out a crack pipe. Ichirou walked up to him.

“No, we’re good.” Ichirou was just keeping this guy away from his friends. He felt the need to protect them, even though he was only a step in front of them.

“Are you sure? It’s some good shit tonight.” The man went to pull out a little baggy he had in his coat pocket.

“I’m sure, we are just here to drink. We don’t do anything hard.” Ichirou nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ah, man. You dudes don’t know what you are missing out on.” The man waved them off and started walking away, heading in the direction of the road that leads to the highway back to the city.

Ichirou turned around and shook his head. Leon patted Ichirou on the shoulder. “Let’s get going. We are out of beer and need to still find Ryoji.” Saying the other’s name, perked up Dameian.

Ichirou nodded his head. “Sounds like a good plan.” The four of them left the parking lot and headed towards the bonfires. They made their way close enough before they were spotted by Kojima and Hitsu.

“Hey, Mini Ka-yu and gang!” Hitsu spoke out, a little drunk. “You guys made it. Man, you should have seen the topless girls.”

Ichirou never saw Hitsu, drunk, or at least not this rowdy. He looked at Kojima, who was just standing there. “How much have you two drank?” Ichirou snorted, seeing Hitsu having a good time, trying to keep upright.

“I don’t drink, punk. Thought you would have figured that out by now.” Kojima rolled his green eyes. “Hitsu is just letting loose tonight since he doesn’t have to keep a straight mind for poker.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Where’s Niko tonight?” He knew Kojima wouldn’t leave Niko unattended now, especially since they were dating now.

“At home. Lyle didn’t feel like coming, and Niko stayed to play video games with him. Niko’s not a fan of sand either.” Kojima told Ichirou, though he wasn’t even looking at Ichirou, he had no interest in Ichirou. He was only friendly to Ichirou when Niko was around.

“Last question, seen Ryoji around?” Ichirou raised a brow. Kojima looked at him finally and shook his head.

“You shouldn’t fight tonight. Kenji will blow his head, he’s even told everyone on the football team to keep you away from the fire.” Hitsu told Ichirou, using his hands to express an explosion out of his head.

“Kenji can suck my cock.” Ichirou told them. “Does he still have the black eye I gave him earlier today?”

Both Kojima and Hitsu looked at Ichirou, Hitsu put his arm around Kojima’s neck to stable himself. “That was you? He said Spike threw a baseball bat at him when he wasn’t watching and Spike to prove it, Spike looks a bit beat up too.”

“Well, I had nothing to do with Spike, just Kenji,” Ichirou smirked. “Guess he can’t handle it when he gets put in his place by his old man.” This brought more puzzling looks upon Ichirou, not just from Hitsu, but Leon and Dameian. Jeremy had no idea what was going on. Ichirou decided they needed to continue their search. “See you guys later.” He waved off Hitsu and Kojima as he headed to the first bonfire.

“What was that about? You ran into Kenji today?” Leon came up beside Ichirou. “Why didn’t you say anything to us about it?”

“It’s not like anything serious happened.” Ichirou shoved his hands into his pockets. “We just had a run in and that’s it. It was broken up before anything serious happened.”

“Ichirou, we are your best friends and you won’t tell us, but you’ll tell them.” Leon gestured towards Kojima and Hitsu's direction.

“Well, I told them as you guys were there. Like I said it wasn’t anything serious. Besides, Kenji and I won’t be fighting for a while. At least not tonight. Now, let’s find Ryoji.” Ichirou smirked, but Leon sighed.

“Yeah, Dameian and I will head this way, you and Jeremy that way. That way we will cover more ground.” Leon did not seem happy with Ichirou for keeping something from them. Though, Ichirou never really told them a lot of what happened to him. He kept it secret and he had a good reason for it. He didn’t want anyone knowing him and Kenji were brothers. Except for the ones who lived in Kojima’s house all knew and Kenji’s two buddies.

Splitting up was a good idea, and then again it wasn’t. If Dameian and Leon found Ryoji first, Ichirou wouldn’t be there to keep an eye on the fight. He was going to make sure no one held Dameian back, he was sure Dameian would lay out Ryoji. Dameian was worn down from Kojima holding him back before, so it wasn’t fair. And now it was getting more personal. Darius was hiding that fact he was with Ryoji from Dameian, and they didn’t know if it was by choice or by force.

“Man, this party is crazy!” Jeremy said loud to Ichirou, as the noise and music were blaring around them. Of course, he didn’t need to speak up for Ichirou to hear him.

“Yeah.” Ichirou nodded his head. They were walking down the one side, keeping their eyes out for Ryoji as Leon and Dameian took the other side by the water. Ichirou was watching everything, but his eyes would wander to the house that they were getting closer to. Ichirou wasn’t recognizing anyone out here. They were adults, partying. Then he had to remember, Kenji was a drug dealer, why would he be out in the open? From past parties, ones Ichirou was at, but not Kenji, it was Ryoji and Hayden dealing for him and they always sat at the dining table, so why would it be any different?

“Come on, we are going into the house,” Ichirou told Jeremy, who nodded his head and followed after Ichirou up the steps that lead to the house, as they passed by a few party-goers talking on the steps. Ichirou wanted to listen to all the conversations happening around them, but they didn't have an interest for him, as his mind was on finding Ryoji and no one was saying his name.

As they got to the house, Ichirou was trying to look past other people, to see if Kenji was there before they walked in. He knew Kenji would be pissed if Ichirou appeared in the house, he just had that feeling, and he knew Kenji would attack him. Seeing no sign of Kenji in there, he walked in with Jeremy still following him.

Inside was an open concept area, kitchen, dining, and living room all on the main floor. Ichirou could guess there were two washrooms as there were two lines at the far line in front of two doors. Though Ichirou didn’t know anyone in the house, he did see John and Spike over in the kitchen, laughing with others, drinking. That meant Kenji was close.

“What about upstairs?” Jeremy point to a staircase. “It is a party, and horny people do go upstairs more likely to get laid.” His words were close to being correct, though Ichirou hoped Ryoji wasn’t up there, especially with Darius. They were only thirteen, though, both Vampires and reaching their adult age. Then again, Ryoji was getting head from Niko when he was only twelve. Ichirou shook his head.

They headed up the stairs and there was a hallway leading to four rooms. Ichirou looked at Jeremy. “We have to be careful. I can’t let Kenji know I am here, so let me open the doors.” Jeremy nodded his head and was just going to follow Ichirou anyways. Ichirou walked to the first door. He closed his eyes. He wished his ability could help him see through walls right now, but that wasn’t going to happen. He was just trying to find a connection with the bodies on the other side.

Nothing. So Ichirou opened the open a peek and it was dark inside so he swung the door open stumbling a bit and flipped the light switch on. There was a couple on the bed, still fully clothed. “Oh, my bad…” Ichirou slurred his words and pulled the door shut, after shutting the light off. Jeremy was looking at him with a smile.

“Are you going to act drunk the whole time?” Jeremy whispered. Ichirou straighten up and pulled out his mickey of rum and took a swig from it.

“I could act or just find more and get drunk.” Ichirou chuckled softly as he and Jeremy walked up to the next door. Ichirou placed his hand on the door and closed his eyes.

There was something familiar on the other side, but it wasn’t the connection he had with Kenji. He pointed to the door and pulled Jeremy to the next door. Either he knew who was in that room, or it was Kenji. There were still two other doors to check.

The next door, Ichirou placed his hand upon it and closed his eyes. There was nothing, no one was in the room and to make sure, Ichirou swung the door open and flipped on the light. Someones had been in this room, the scent of sex was clear, so Ichirou just closed the door before walking up to the fourth and final door. He placed his hand on it and closed his eyes, though his eyes shot open. He looked at Jeremy and shook his head. Ichirou quickly moved away from that door. He needed to get away from it before the occupant noticed him.

It had to be the second door, though the familiar feeling could be because he had been around Darius since elementary school that Ichirou could sense it was him in the room. Ichirou looked at the bottom of the door, the light was on. He tired the door, slowly. It was locked.

“We need to find Leon and Dameian,” Ichirou whispered to Jeremy. “You are going to stay downstairs and keep your eye out for Ryoji coming out of this bedroom. Okay?” Jeremy smiled at Ichirou and nodded his head.

That gave Ichirou a moment to go searching for Dameian and Leon. He jumped over the railing and walked fast pace outside, before he looked at the beach, searching for the two. It couldn’t be hard to find a redhead and green hair pair together and it wasn’t. He spotted them and jogged his way down the stairs. He jumped off the last few steps to the sand and took off running close to where he last saw them.

“Dameian!” Ichirou called out, making a few heads turn towards him as he searched the crowd, then the redhead appears with Leon beside him as they were looking defeated. “Hey, guys!” Ichirou waved them over and they picked up their pace and jotted to Ichirou.

“Did you find him?” Dameian was looking over Ichirou’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure. But I’m pretty sure I felt three people, one might have been Darius. I’m not good at sensing out others who aren’t blood-related to me, that’s why we need you to see if it’s Darius.” Ichirou told them, rubbing the back of his neck, he didn’t feel so sure himself about what he felt. Dameian nodded his head and the three of them headed to the house, where Ichirou had left Jeremy on watch.


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to stop warning what is in each chapter.  
> If you read this far, it clear you are not worried about the warnings.  
> I realized now, I don't think I am halfway, and hope you won't lose interest in this story.  
> 

All four boys stood outside the door on the second level of the house. Ichirou leads them to the second door where he sensed something familiar but he wasn’t sure what it was. Dameian didn’t need to focus to sense anything, his anger had returned and he was fuming, radiating heat off his body. He went to try the doorknob but Ichirou shook his head. “It’s locked,” Ichirou whispered.

Dameian nodded his head and looked at the doorknob, a simple lock. He looked like he knew what to do. He looked around their surroundings, seeing a picture hanging on the wall and took the picture off the wall, and pulled out the nail that was used to hang the picture. Ichirou wasn’t sure what his game plan was as Dameian held the nail in his hand and it formed, from the heat alone to a long and thin piece of metal. Dameian grinned like a fool as he brought the nail to the door handle and jimmied it through the lock on the door.

Ichirou watched Dameian pick the lock and a soft sound of the lock disengaging was heard. Leon and Jeremy didn’t hear it, but Ichirou and Dameian did. He pulled the nail out and dropped it on the floor.

“Did it work?” Leon asked with a whisper and Dameian nodded his head. Then Dameian stood there with his hand on the doorknob. He looked at the three with him and sighed. The anger was diminishing as if he didn’t want to know what was going on like he didn’t want to know if Ryoji was on the other side or not. He knew Darius was, though.

Ichirou raised a brow as he watched Dameian figure out what he wanted to do. He didn’t even know what he’d do in this situation. He watched Dameian struggle with the courage to open the door before Dameian nodded his head and made the first move.

The door swung open by Dameian and Ichirou was standing right there in the doorway seeing it all. On the bed, Ryoji had his back towards them, on his knees with his pants pulled down around them. Darius was in front of him, on his knees as well, but bent over on his elbows. Laying on the bed with his hands on Darius’ head, under Darius was Ryan, as Darius was bobbing his head up and down on his crotch.

Dameian didn’t take long to react as Ryan saw them first and pushed Darius’ head off his cock. “Shit!” Came from Ryan’s mouth, Darius turned his head seen Dameian there in a flash, Ryoji had barely enough time to turn his head, just before Dameian slammed his fist into it.

Ryoji was knocked to the side, Darius let out a squeal and got off the bed, as Dameian and Ryoji started swinging fists at each other. He managed to get on top of Ryoji and throwing his fists at Ryoji’s face, busting his nose open. Ryan had managed to stuff himself back inside his pants, avoid the punches Dameian was giving to Ryoji before he jumped on Dameian’s back and started punching him.

Ichirou felt a shift in the air, as his eyes directed towards the last door down the hallway. If he was right, they needed to disappear. Ichirou pulled Jeremy and Leon into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them. “No matter what, don’t open that door.” Ichirou quickly told them as Leon and Jeremy nodded their heads and push their bodies up against the door. Ichirou turned back around and with one hand in a fist, he stalked over to the bed and pulled Ryan off of Dameian, slamming his fist into Ryan’s head, before holding him in a chokehold. Ryan struggled and pushed Ichirou back into the wall, but Ichirou didn’t let him go.

“Stop it, you guys!” Darius shouted at them. “Dameian, he’s my boyfriend!”

His words made Dameian pause his attacks and get off the bed and stood in front of Darius, with his back to the bed. “You are dating this bastard? That same bastard who looked at you and call you a freak after you told him you liked him.”

Darius rolled his eyes. “That was in kindergarten. Things change. Now he is my boyfriend and I would like it if you backed off.” He pushed Dameian with his hands and Ichirou saw steam coming from the contract. Dameian was raging hot and Darius must have known and as his body was looking a little blue. The two were both fire and ice, controlling one element each.

“No, I won’t stand by and let you get hurt by him!” Dameian stared hard at Darius.

“You are going to have to stand down!” Darius told Dameian. “He’s my boyfriend. I’m not going to follow you around and act like a delicate flower because that’s how you think of me, Dameian.”

Dameian was about to open his mouth when something made him stop. His eyes went wide and because Ichirou was focused on Darius and Dameian fighting, he didn’t notice Ryoji coming up behind Dameian and stabbing him in the front part of his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here!” Ryoji hopped off the bed, taking the knife he just stabbed Dameian with, and the other hand grabbing Darius’ hand and headed to the door that was blocked by Jeremy and Leon. Though, the two moved out of their way, quickly. Ichirou released Ryan, who followed them out, and caught Dameian before he hit the floor.

“My arm, I can’t move it.” Dameian’s blues eyes filled with tears as blood cover his whole left side of his shirt. Ichirou placed his hand on Dameian’s shoulder, but the blood was flowing out too quickly, Ichirou struggled to take control of the blood and repair the damage quickly. Dameian was going in to shock, before passing out on Ichirou.

“He’s going to bleed out!” Ichirou closed his eyes. He had to think of something fast. “Go get Kenji down the hall!” He commanded Leon, who nodded his head and was about to rush out of the bedroom, but Kenji was already there.

“What the fuck happened?” Kenji narrowed his eyes at Ichirou. “Why the fuck are you here?” He didn’t look impressed, he arms crossed over his bare toned chest, wearing nothing but a pair of pants. His red dragon tattoo, the head starting on his left upper arm snaking over his shoulder and down to end on his back, was clearly on display.

Ichirou growled low in his throat. “Ryoji just fucking stabbed Dameian. He’s losing blood fast.” He watched as Kenji came over and squatted down on the floor near Dameian and Ichirou, Dameian was barely holding on. “I can’t heal it without draining him. I need your help.”

“Fine.” Kenji snarled. “I’ll keep him alive, you fix.” Kenji brought his right hand up over Dameian’s heart and closed his eyes. Ichirou nodded his head and held up his left hand over the wound and closed his eyes. Ryoji had severed the axillary artery and nerves. Ichirou focused and worked as fast as he could. When the wound finally sealed, Ichirou pulled his hand away. Dameian was still breathing and Kenji pulled his hand away too. “Get out of here, all of you, before I start pounding your heads in too.” His voice low and quiet, soft sounding.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I think we have something to settle.” He looked at Kenji with pure hatred in his eyes, but it wasn’t directed at Kenji, he wanted to go find Ryoji and finish him off himself.

“I’ll deal with Ryoji. You get your asses out of here.” Kenji scolded as he got up. “This is Ryoji’s mess and I have to deal with him myself. You’ll just kill him.” He told Ichirou as he walked out of the room.

“Ichirou, I think we should leave. Like now. Kenji’s eyes just turned fully red.” Leon told Ichirou as he looked out the door that Kenji just walked out of. Ichirou sighed, he’d deal with that later. With Dameian passed out from the shock, Ichirou put Dameian’s arm over his shoulder and Leon did the same and dragged Dameian out of the house, with a few onlookers talking, wondering what had happened to him.

Ichirou was angry, angry at Ryoji for stabbing Dameian, angry at Darius for letting it happen, and angry at himself. He should have protected Dameian, but that didn’t happen. Dameian would be dead if it weren’t for Ichirou and Kenji. Luck had it that Kenji was there, or else Ichirou would have struggled to keep Dameian from bleeding out and losing too much blood as he fell unconscious. Too many thoughts came to his head as he dragged Dameian with Leon out across the beach towards the parking lot.

“Shit, Jeremy come and take Dameian from me. I gotta call my sister for a ride.” Leon was about to fish his phone out of his pocket after Jeremy took Dameian’s other arm around his neck, and Kazayuki grabbed Leon’s phone.

“I don’t think so.” Kazayuki shook his head. “I’ll take you guys back to my place. Kenji has already told me to keep an eye on you four. Sure, you two may not do anything,” Kazayuki pointed at Jeremy and Leon. “But these two will.” He pointed to Ichirou and Dameian. “Especially if he wakes up.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. Of course, Kenji would send his father to stop him from coming back and hunting down Ryoji. That would be after he knew Dameian was safe. Following Kazayuki over to the car, Ichirou moved Dameian to the backseat with Ichirou climbing in the back, along with Jeremy and Leon took up the front passenger seat. The drive was quiet as they got back into the city, to the worse end of town.

Ichirou sighed. “Are you sure your car will be okay out here on the streets?” He knew his father like this car and didn’t want anything bad to happen to it, but there was no parking garage nearby to keep it safe.

“It’ll be fine.” Kazayuki got out of the car and pulled the front seat forward to help Ichirou move Dameian out of the back seat. “If something does, I’ll fix it. I’m not worried about it, as much as I am worried about you guys.”

“Can I call my sister and tell her where I am?” Leon asked, not feeling exactly safe here, but he did need to call her. Kazayuki nodded his head and Leon pulled out his cell phone again and this time called her. Jeremy looked at the time, it was nearing midnight, he decided to call his house too, as Ichirou and Kazayuki carried Dameian up the stairs to the second floor with the two following them.

Just as they stepped inside, Jeremy was holding his phone away from his ear and covering the mouthpiece. “Ichirou, mom wants to talk to Mandy?” Ichirou looked at Jeremy, his parents wanted to talk to Mandy. He had forgotten and this time there was no Mandy. Though, Kazayuki put all Dameian’s weight on Ichirou and grabbed the phone.

“Hey, Mrs. Jeremy’s mom, this is Yuki, Mandy’s boyfriend.” Kazayuki winked at Jeremy and Ichirou. Ichirou shook his head. “I got the boys here. Mandy complained about having a headache and went to bed early.” He paused. “Oh, no. Not a problem. We’re playing some video games before I send them to bed.” Another pause. “Alright, see you sometime.” Kazayuki handed the phone over to Jeremy and he finished up the phone call. “I’ll make the bed, hold on.” He told Ichirou as he walked over to the hide-abed sofa by the wall and laid it out. Ichirou brought Dameian over to the makeshift bed and laid the teen on the bed.

Jeremy came over to them. “Wow, thanks. I didn’t think that was going to work out without Mandy. Parents still are overbearing for me.” He smiled. “I told Ichirou I wish I had a father like you.”

Kazayuki chuckled. “Be careful what you wish for. See the situation I’m living in, it’s not that great. Also having two sons who are mortal enemies and fighting each other every time they see another isn’t easy. I don’t think you’d want to be with a family where you fight with each other.”

Jeremy blinked, as Leon was already sitting on the couch, having heard Kazayuki speak. “You have two sons? You mean Ichirou and Yuriel right?” Leon asked. Though Jeremy got an even more puzzling look on his face.

Ichirou sighed. “No, Yuriel identifies as a girl now, so Yuriel is another sister to me, another sister I’m not blood-related to.” He looked at his father with a glare, and Kazayuki raised his hands in protection as he backed away a step from Ichirou. “I’ve been keeping it a secret because neither of us wants it to get out, so when I tell you, keep it to yourselves.” He looked at Jeremy and Leon both, who nodded their heads. “Kenji and I are blood brothers.”

“What?” Leon expressed himself. “Is that why you keep shit from us when something happens between you two? You know we would never tell anyone you are related, but you kind of been pushing Dameian and me away because of it.”

“You’re not joking, are you? I mean I thought you were Kenji at first and seeing the two of you close together, it makes sense, I guess.” Jeremy didn’t know Ichirou that well to have much of a complaint.

“I’m sorry, guys.” Ichirou looked over at Dameian, who was still passed out. “I’ll tell Dameian the truth when he wakes up.” Ichirou looked with concern at Leon and Jeremy. “I just don’t need it getting out the blood-relation we have. Kenji doesn’t want it getting out either and nor do I. It would complicate things for me and if someone were to tell, they would have to deal with Kenji, probably.”

“Well, makes sense.” Leon shrugged his shoulders before leaning back against the couch. “Kenji is feared by everyone, and yeah you are feared in school, but that’s only because you fight with him. You aren’t the enemy like Kenji is. If they were to find out, they would completely ignore you and not want anything to do with you. Even the football team might turn their backs to you. You’d become an outcast and probably have to start hanging out with Kenji.”

Ichirou snorted. “I’d never hang out with him. He’s fucked in the head.” As he said these words, Kazayuki was growling low in his throat for only Ichirou to hear. “Fine. I mean, Kojima, Hitsu, Lyle, and even Niko know about it. Same with Ryoji and Hayden, so it’s not completely a secret, it’s just something they don’t talk about out loud.”

“Well, if Hit knows and Kojima and they haven’t pushed you away, you should be fine.” Leon smiled at Ichirou. “They are more like enforcers at the school. Kenji knows there are certain things that those two say that stick, but Kenji still causes trouble, especially with the teachers.”

“Yeah, and if it wasn’t for Hitsu or Niko, I would be cast out. Kojima and I aren’t friends, we have dirt on each other, but we still hate each other.” Ichirou looked uninterested in explaining any more about it. He moved to sit down on the edge of the foldout bed.

“Alright, enough talking, more sleeping.” Kazayuki pointed at Leon and Jeremy. “Off the couch.” The two moved away from the couch as Kazayuki folded it out to make a bed, it was another foldout couch. “You guys sleep where ever. I have to go out and make a few stops before I return. Ichirou, lock the door after I leave.” He told Ichirou as he gathers up some stuff from the top dresser drawer. Ichirou could see it was drugs, there were bags of cocaine and meth, as well as pills. Ichirou narrowed his eyes at his father. “Kenji left it here, I’m going to take it to him.” Ichirou nodded his head as his father turned to leave the apartment.

“I’ll sleep with Dameian, he’s a tosser and turner.” Leon chuckled.

“No, you share with Jeremy.” Ichirou shook his head at his friend. “If Dameian wakes up for blood, it’s best I am the victim. I’m stronger than he is.” Leon wasn’t going to argue with that. Ichirou walked over to the door, locked it, before walking back over to the folded out sofa and shared the bed with Dameian.


	51. Chapter 51

As the sun had been up for a few hours, Ichirou had been attacked in his sleep, bitten in numerous places, and even dealt with vomit. Dameian had been the cause of all that, leaving Ichirou with little sleep. Of course, Ichirou was a Vampire and could handle having no sleep as Vampires didn’t need to sleep to function. Kazayuki was a prime subject of that. He rarely slept and that night he had come back, drank some beer, watched some TV till the sun came up. He didn’t help Ichirou with Dameian’s attacks, because Ichirou said he could handle it. And he did.

The boys were wakened up by Dameian puking his guts out over the side of the bed, as the sun was coming up. Ichirou helped Dameian to the small bathroom to finish puking and to clean himself up after, as Ichirou cleaned up the puke that woke Jeremy and Leon up. Once the window was opened and Kazayuki shut off the TV, he decided to go get breakfast for them all, leaving Ichirou to hold down the fort.

Once Dameian was out of the bathroom, the beds were already folded back into place, Dameian sat down on the sofa, feeling sorry for the mess he made and caused last night. Ichirou told Dameian it wasn’t his fault and he was glad that Dameian was alive. Dameian felt worse, that he shouldn’t have gone, he should have left it alone. Ichirou decided that Dameian wasn’t at fault, Ryoji tried to kill him, then he had to explain how Ichirou was able to save Dameian’s life with Kenji’s help.

“What? He helped you?” Dameian looked at Ichirou with tears in his blue eyes. The redhead looked like a wreck as his hair wasn’t even in place.

“Yeah, I had to ask Kenji to help me save you from death.” Ichirou signed. “He’s the only one who could have helped me save you.”

“How?” Dameian almost shouted. “How could a bastard like him help you? He’d rather leave people to die than help them. It’s written in his track record.”

Ichirou narrowed his eyes. “I could fix the damage, but you’d lose too much blood in the process. Kenji can recreate and resupply you with blood, it was the only way I could keep you alive, Dameian. Don’t you get it? You almost died right there in my arms as your brother ran off with Ryoji!” Ichirou shouted his last words at Dameian, his anger was showing and he had to calm himself down, so he ran his hand through his hair.

Dameian lowers his head and lets the tears in his eyes drop on his lap. “Fucking idiot.” He spoke quietly to himself. “My own brother abandons me for that bastard. I care for him, I love my brother.” He looks up at Ichirou. “You gotta believe me, this isn’t like Darius, he is probably being forced by Ryoji.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Not from what I have seen. Your brother is doing this willingly.” He sighed. “If I have to find out, I’ll ask Kenji. I’m sure he will know something about Ryoji.”

Dameian looked at Ichirou with bloodshot eyes and a disgusted look on his face. “First you have Kenji help you save me, and now you will talk to him about Ryoji for information.” He stood up, heat radiating off of him. “What’s next? Are you going to tell me that you are butt buddies and have this secret relationship with Kenji? You know he’s bad news and you shouldn’t get so close to someone who is your enemy.”

“I thought the saying was to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” Jeremy added his comment and Leon nodded his head agreeing.

Dameian turned around and pointed his finger at Jeremy. “I don’t care what the saying is, I don’t want to lose Ichirou to a punk ass bitch like Kenji. He’s bad news and you all know it too.”

“You won’t lose me to Kenji.” Ichirou folded his hands in front of him, leaning forward on his elbows that rested against his thighs. “Dameian, I have to tell you something and it can never leave this apartment.”

“What?” Dameian turned around to face Ichirou.

“Kenji and I are blood brothers,” Ichirou spoke the words out and thought Dameian was about to attack him with more of his heat, but instead, Dameian cooled down. The temperature in the room was no longer heating up because of Dameian. Ichirou looked towards Dameian.

“Are you serious? You two are blood-related?” Dameian asked, not sure if he wanted to know the truth. Ichirou nodded his head. “Why are you keeping this from us? Me and Leon?”

Ichirou shook his head. “Because no one is supposed to know. Kenji and I don’t want anyone knowing that we are related because it wouldn’t be good for me or him.”

“Shit, man.” Dameian had a hand on his hip and his other hand going through his hair. “That’s got to be tough, being related to a guy like him.” He looked at Ichirou. “I’m sorry for bursting out like that. I won’t tell a soul about it.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “What happens between me and Kenji from now on, I’ll try to be more open about it, so you aren’t hearing the rumors around the school.” He wished he could have kept it a secret, he wished that no one had to know about it. Ichirou wished his father never had another child, but wishing didn’t make it go away. No, his brother had hurt him in the worst possible way. He took advantage of him and raped him. Ichirou would never forget that, but he knew from experience that dwelling on it would only bring back memories of the past. Ichirou wasn’t weak and knew he could live with what happened to him.

Dameian took off his bloodied t-shirt, blood had stained the shirt and even his body. Ichirou was silently checking out his friend’s body. Something came back to him about Alphas and Omegas that had defined Vampires born on the island. Alphas were born with big muscle toned bodies to go with the strength and stamina, much like Kojima and Hitsu. Omegas had slender forms, though could gain tone if they worked on it, they would never gain big muscular bodies, much like Niko and Dameian. Ichirou realized he was gawking at Dameian and turned away.

“You should go have a shower, clean up,” Ichirou said, as Dameian had realized Ichirou was staring at him. “I’ll get you a clean towel.” He stood up and walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light. He looked behind the door where the towel hung and reached for one that was clean looking and tossed it at Dameian, who had followed him to the bathroom. Dameian’s shirt was bloodied and even the waist of Dameian’s jeans was stained with blood. “Here, just wash up. Get that blood off your body.”

“Thanks, man.” Dameian stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. A few moments later Ichirou heard the water turn on as he walked into the kitchen area and opened the fridge. Nothing but beer. He sighed and closed the fridge and grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it with water, not thinking about Dameian in the shower, though no noise was heard from the shower once Ichirou had a cup of water and drank it back.

“So, Ichirou, are you thinking about joining the football team?” Jeremy turned around on the couch and asked as Ichirou walked back over to the space where the sofa was and sat down.

Ichirou shook his head. “Not my cup of tea. I’m not much for sports.”

“Seriously?” Jeremy gave him a look. “You played basketball like you had a game against Kenji that one day, and even still you can handle that ball like it’s a part of your body. You should try out for the football team. I think you’d have a game.”

Ichirou shook his head with a smirk. “I learned how to play basketball from watching Leon play in elementary. I’ve watched football games, but I’m not into slamming people down trying to get my hands on an egg-shaped ball.”

“Told you he wouldn’t. He’s got a nice arm too. He’d play as a quarterback.” Leon told Jeremy, slapping him on the arm. “Ichirou is too good for sports.”

“Awe, man. You seriously should just try out. I mean, the team has opened positions since most of the other guys graduated, even for a quarterback.” Jeremy was smiling at Ichirou, raising his brows up and down, trying to get Ichirou interested.

“Yeah, and if you get the quarterback position, it’s not like you’d be playing games, just in practice. Paul is our quarterback and plays most, if not all the games, the reason our other quarterback quit, he wasn’t getting any game time. You’d probably end up with a different position.” Leon grinned. It seemed to Ichirou they were trying to get him to join, though why?

Ichirou sighed. “Why are you trying to recruit me?” There had to be a reason, especially since it seemed Leon was trying to get Jeremy to recruit Ichirou.

Jeremy’s smile faded and he looked over at Leon, Leon looked defeated. “We don’t have enough members. It’s true, most of the members graduated last year. Coach says if we can’t recruit enough players, there is no season for us and our first game is coming up next weekend. We have a week to get enough players.”

Ichirou shook his head. “Look elsewhere. I’m not a sporty kind of guy. I only play sports if I’m bored, or if I have to.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into the sofa. He looked at them as they shrugged their shoulders and sighed in defeat. Well, they couldn’t get Ichirou to join.

Listening to Jeremy and Leon carry on talking about football, Ichirou waited for Dameian to come out of the bathroom. Once the redhead stepped out of the bathroom, wearing his blood-stained jeans, Ichirou got up and walked over to him. “Hey, feel better?”

Dameian nodded his head. “Yeah, feel so much better, man.” He laughed lightly. “Guessing you are going for one, your shirt is bloodied too and your whole left hand and arm.”

Ichirou nodded his head. “Yeah, I got to get your blood off my body.” He chuckled and slipped past Dameian. He knew there wasn’t really hot water, so he wasn’t sure how Dameian did it, though he might have an idea how Dameian made it steamy in the bathroom. He undressed and stepped into the shower under the lukewarm water and showered himself.

Once Ichirou was done showering himself, he dried himself off and stepped out. He decided to just put his baggy shorts he was wearing on and wrapped his underwear in his white muscle shirt as he stepped out of the bathroom. That when the scent of fear hit his nose and body like a tidal wave. He narrowed his eyes. Dameian was sitting in the armchair, watching TV. Jeremy and Leon were sitting on the couch closer to Dameian. On the sofa was sitting the last person Ichirou wanted to see, Kenji.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Father ain’t here, so piss off.” Ichirou growled as he walked towards Kenji, dropping his dirty clothes by the bathroom door before.

Kenji wasn’t looking at Ichirou, he was bent over, elbows resting on his legs, letting his hair cover his face as much as his unruly auburn hair could. “I didn’t come here for him.” His voice had no emotion though it was still sweet soft-sounding. “You owe me for saving your friend’s life there.” He raised his eyes to Ichirou, the red color of his eyes was solid and the whites of his eyes were being taken over by red, but it seemed like it wasn’t moving anymore.

“What do I owe you? Money?” Ichirou crossed his arms over his toned chest as he continued to give Kenji a deathly glare.

Kenji shook his head and stood up. He started to remove his loose muscle shirt showing off his toned chest similar to Ichirou’s, though Kenji had a few scars where Ichirou’s skin was flawless. “I need you to fix my back before it scars over.” He turned around and there on Kenji’s back were four deep gashes on his back, so deep Ichirou could make out that the white he was seeing was apart of Kenji’s ribcage or spine.

“How are you not dead?” Dameian spoke out loud. He was in shock, same with Leon and Jeremy.

“Easy, I stopped the blood flow,” Kenji said as it was the most common thing in the world. “If you haven’t figured it out, dumbass, I can control blood. I can help your body create more blood or I can stop the flow of blood.”

Ichirou scrunched up his face. He wanted to say something about Kenji calling his friends' names but now wasn’t the time. “So, you want me to use my ability to manipulate the blood in your body and repair the tissue damage?” Ichirou asked Kenji, who gave him a nod.

Kenji turned around and faced Ichirou as Ichirou had walked closer to him. “You owe me, so I think it’s the perfect time to collect your debt.”

“How did it happen?” Ichirou asked, but Kenji shook his head, not answering Ichirou. “I suggest you tell me what happened or you can scar over for all I care.”

The tension in the room created by Kenji and Ichirou thickened, that Dameian got out of the armchair and told Leon and Jeremy to move as well. They were making their way to the door when the door opened to Kazayuki walking in. Both, Kenji and Ichirou were staring at each other, hands balled into fists, though neither made a move.

“I got breakfast, sorry it took a little longer than expected.” Kazayuki casually walked into the kitchen area, looking at the three who were close to the door. “Come on and eat up. I got a few blood packages too, so you can have one Dameian.” He saw the three had feared in their eyes and looking to the far corner. Kazayuki walked up to them and snapped his fingers in their faces. “Go eat, they won’t do a thing with me around.”

Leon looked at Jeremy then at Dameian. He wasn’t sure if he should move. Though Dameian made the first move towards the kitchen area and grabbed a blood package and sucked it back, then Jeremy shrugged his shoulders and walked over to see what Kazayuki got them for breakfast. Leon sighed and followed. There were pancakes, with syrup and whip cream made up in takeout boxes. Kazayuki joined them, as Kenji and Ichirou continued to stare each other down, not moving an inch.

“How was your night, boys? Besides the ending.” Kazayuki was carrying on a conversation with them as they stood there eating pancakes.

“Alright. Drank all my beer, talked about school and football.” Jeremy said, enjoying the food Kazayuki got them. “Tried to recruit Ichirou this morning for the team, but that failed.”

Kazayuki chuckled. “Yeah, my boys won’t do anything they don’t want to do unless they are forced.” He smirked at the three boys. “Sadly, I can’t even force them to play sports. I’ve tried to get Ichirou to pick up a guitar. He can play, but he found it boring. I’ve caught Kenji playing the drums at my band member’s house and asked if he wanted to jam, he stuck up his nose and left. They have musical talent, but they refuse to show off. So, if they have potential in sports and they don’t find it in their interest, they won’t do it willingly.”

Leon nodded his head. “Ichirou has the potential to be a quarterback with that arm of his, but we already have a guy who plays that position.” He looked back to Ichirou and Kenji, the two still haven’t moved. “We have exactly ten members on the team, and the coach says if we don’t try to recruit at least three more players, we are out for the season.”

“Really?” Kazayuki looked interested. “I mean, I know you had over twenty players last season. Did they all graduate or something?” Leon nodded his head. “I thought you guys played eleven-man football, so why would you need three more players?”

Jeremy swallowed his food as Leon had taken a bite of his food. “The coach thinks with most of the players being Vampires, everyone will play two positions. Though Leon and I are human, he knows we will need to sit out for breaks during plays and switch off players as well, as Paul, our quarterback, will only play his position.”

“Makes sense, though Vampires will tire out if they don’t have their breaks too.” Kazayuki thought to himself. “I mean Kojima and Hitsu are adults so they would probably last three quarters before calling it quits. Your coach must have a lot of faith in you boys to last that long.”

“I’ll join.” Dameian gave a goofy grin, flashing his fangs. “I may not be built like those two, but I’m pretty sure I can play.”

“Seriously?” Leon looked at Dameian with surprise in his eyes. “I thought you were going for the basketball team?”

Dameian shrugged his shoulders. “I thought about it, though if I’m hanging around football players, wouldn’t it make sense to try out for the football team?”

“You realize this is a contact sport?” Leon asked Dameian, who just nodded his head. “Alright, you can show up to the next practice. See what happens. I mean, I’ve watched you throw a ball and you suck.”

“Hey, I’m joining to help you guys.” Dameian’s expression looked hurt, though he was laughing. “I don’t need to throw the ball, just catch it, right?” Jeremy nodded his head. “Thank you. See, I will make the team just fine.”

Leon laughed as Jeremy gave him a thumbs up. Kazayuki chuckled and looked past them to Ichirou and Kenji. “Alright, that’s enough. Get your asses over here and eat some food.” He commanded the two boys staring each other down.

Ichirou snarled as Kenji’s eyes grew wide in an imitating way of staring him down. Kazayuki seen his words weren’t going to work so he walked over to them and placed one hand on each of their head and knocked their heads together, this broke their stare and they both rubbed their foreheads as their eyes glared at Kazayuki.

“What the fuck was that for?” Ichirou spoke.

“Are you fucking crazy, old man?” Kenji said at the same time.

“Now, that I have your attention. Go eat!” Kazayuki growled out and pointed to the kitchen. His red eyes were piercing into them and Kenji looked to the side as he walked over to the kitchen area and Ichirou rolled his eyes and followed Kenji. They both reached for a blood package at the same time and they snapped their heads to face each other. Kazayuki grabbed the blood package out of their hands and walked away, drinking that package himself, and Ichirou and Kenji took different blood packages each and looked away from each other. Kenji leaned against the counter in front of the sink, Ichirou leans against the fridge, both sucking back the blood contents.

Jeremy, Leon, and Dameian were standing at the small island on the other side, facing them and all three were watching them for any signs that a fight might break out. Kazayuki smirked, he walks back over and throws his empty package in the garbage. “So, Kenji, why are you here anyway? I told you they were here this morning, so why did you come?”

Kenji scowled. “I came to get what is owed to me.” He turned around, slightly to show his back to Kazayuki. Kazayuki nodded, that would be why Kenji texted him asking where Ichirou was.

“You know, Ichirou can fix your issue, but you realize you will need to fix your ink. I don’t think Ichirou can fix your tattoo as well. It’ll just be skin, no tattoo.” Kazayuki told Kenji, as he saw that gashes on his back started on Kenji’s left side and down to the right. “Though, how did that happen?”

“Whatever, I can get it fixed by my artist.” Kenji let out a huff, throwing his empty package out. “Ryoji. I hunted him down and he clawed me.”

“Those weren’t created by a human hand, you realize that?” Jeremy pointed it out.

“I know that, dipshit.” Kenji scowled. “Ryoji has the ability to turn into a tiger, so when I found him and was fighting him, he managed to turn and claw my back.”

The three boys looked surprised learning this, Ichirou having finished his package threw it out and sighed. “Now was that so hard to tell us?” Ichirou said kind of snarky to Kenji, who turned to him and raised his fist. “That’s all I asked you, was how it happened, so I could fix it. It doesn’t make a difference, but I was curious to know before I did.”

“Now that you know, fucking fix it already. It’s draining my energy keeping it from bleeding out.” Kenji said, moving past Ichirou and walked over to the sofa and laid down on his stomach, waiting for Ichirou to come over and fix his back.

Ichirou rolled his eyes, and Kazayuki raised his brows at Ichirou and nodded his head towards Kenji for Ichirou to go over there and help Kenji. Ichirou rather not do anything, but he said he would. He walked over to Kenji and stood there with his left hand over Kenji’s back and started on one at a time, closing his eyes, each claw mark was fixed and sealed with new flesh from Ichirou manipulating the blood Kenji was holding back.

It was starting to take its toll on Ichirou, that he had to use his right hand to hold the back of the sofa to keep from falling on top of Kenji. He was halfway through the third one when he pulled himself away and slowly opened his eyes. Leon was there to catch Ichirou from falling over.

“Easy there, man.” Leon chuckled as he moved Ichirou to sit on the couch, which helped Ichirou regain some of his senses, but then Ichirou was feeling sick. Kazayuki was fast to move the trash can in front of Ichirou as Ichirou threw up the contents in his stomach, which was mostly blood and water.

“Stay where you are, Kenji,” Kazayuki told Kenji, as the other was about to get up. “He still has more to go.” He reached over the back of the couch and rubbed Ichirou’s shoulders. “Can you continue?”

“Water.” Ichirou lifted his head out of the trash can, and Kazayuki gestured to Dameian, who rushed over to the sink and filled up a cup with tap water and brought it over to Ichirou, who down it. “More.” Again, Dameian got Ichirou water and Ichirou drank it back. Ichirou got up, a small cup of water wasn’t going to fix this, he staggered towards the tap, with Kazayuki never taking his hands off of his shoulders and Ichirou turned the tap on and drank straight from the tap. He always makes sure to drink water, but repairing this much tissue was a problem for him, it was beyond his ability’s use. He needed to practice using his ability more, so he could strengthen it.

After drinking a gracious amount of water, Ichirou turned off the tap and panted. His senses were clearing up, he wasn’t dizzy anymore. Kazayuki patted his shoulder. “Here, drink this.” Kazayuki pulled out another blood package from the bag he had brought with breakfast that had a few blood packages in it, though this was the last one. Ichirou sunk his teeth in and sucked it back so fast.

“Okay, I can finish.” Ichirou panted out as he threw the package out and walked back over to Kenji.

“Finally, I hate waiting,” Kenji muttered out, as Ichirou rolled his eyes and got back to work, continuing where he left off.

After Ichirou had finished up, Kenji put his shirt back on and left the apartment with no thanks or anything. Ichirou had repaid his debt, he guessed. About that time it was afternoon and Kazayuki decided to take the boys back to their respective homes and drop Ichirou off at Mizuki’s place. Kazayuki had parked his car in the underground parking and told Ichirou he was proud of him for handling a lot of difficult situations last night, and for helping Kenji. He took his motorcycle this time and left. Ichirou smirked to himself, receiving praise from his father always made him feel good.


	52. Chapter 52

The next week at school, the days carried on just like the week before, with Ichirou and Kenji talking back to each other, or starting a fight with another. Though, when the teacher was around, they stopped and carried on as nothing happened. Bleeding noses and all. The teacher clued into what was happening between the two, but they never caught them in action, so even the teachers carried on as nothing happened.

It was lunchtime that Kenji called Ichirou outside for around. Ichirou was more than glad to go. Finding that fighting against Kenji was actually good for him, a lot of his built-up aggression was being released in each punch or kick he threw Kenji’s way. Ichirou never realized that over the years be was carrying a lot of this aggression and finding that fighting with Kenji on daily basis was helping him. Though there was never a winner, some students from around the school would come and watch the action, just because a good fight was good entertainment.

It was Thursday and the day before Kenji wasn’t at school, so when the lunch bell rang, Ichirou was more willing to skip going to catch up with his friends at their lockers and meet Kenji out back behind the school. Ichirou was sure his friends would know he was outback. He stood there waiting for Kenji to appear, which didn’t take long with a group of spectators. Though Kenji was feared at the school, they stayed away from him, but if Kenji’s sights weren’t on them, they were more willing to follow him, a few good feet away.

“Oh, surprise, surprise,” Kenji smirked, seeing Ichirou leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting. “I thought you would have forgotten about me, Ka-yu.” That’s right, Ichirou’s nickname turned from Mini Ka-yu to just Ka-yu, and it caught on with the rest of the student body.

“Like I could forget the ugly mug of yours.” Ichirou spat at Kenji. “You left me yesterday with no play toys, so I’m more willing to pound your face in today.”

Kenji chuckled. “If I have to supply you with play toys, then clearly you aren’t a big enough man to find them yourself.” He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Taking a puff of the nicotine stick.

Ichirou rolled his eyes. “I thought a good master always made sure his pets had toys to occupy themselves with? Or am I wrong?” He knew what he was saying, he also knew Kenji likes to be praised as the bigger man on campus, so to speak. His words caught Kenji off guard between shock and the boost to his big ego.

Kenji coughed a bit having inhaled too quickly. “You aren’t wrong about that.” He took another drag from his cigarette before flipping it in his hand and passing it to Ichirou. Ichirou wasn’t a casual smoker, but the nicotine gave Ichirou’s head a spin that it started feeling good, so Ichirou only ever had a smoke was when he and Kenji were fighting. It left some of the spectators confused, but it started to become a ritual between them before a fight.

Ichirou took the cigarette and had a couple of long drags of the tobacco stick, before handing it back to Kenji. The last exhale, started to make Ichirou’s head spin, in a good way. He looked at Kenji with a matching smirk, as Kenji finished the cigarette and toed it out with the toe end of his shoes.

Too slow for Ichirou’s taste as he fisted his hands and swung first towards Kenji’s head, who caught Ichirou’s wrist and went for an uppercut that Ichirou backed his body from, missing him completely. Though, Ichirou used that to his advantage as Kenji was holding his wrist. Ichirou pulled Kenji close and bashed his head against the other’s head, causing Kenji to curse for a second before grabbing Ichirou’s shoulders and doing the same thing to Ichirou.

The crowd gathered up and started cheering on Kenji or Ka-yu, a.k.a Ichirou. Ichirou was quick to attack back with a switch of his fists. Going for a right swung, he used that as a distraction for his left fist to land an attack on Kenji’s jaw. Ichirou was both right-handed and left-handed, though left was his dominant hand. Kenji, on the other hand, favored his right hand, he was right-handed. Another swing of his fist, left Ichirou opened for an attack as Kenji dodged out of the way and slammed Ichirou back against the wall and planted his fist in Ichirou’s face, though the second punch hit the wall as Ichirou dipped down and punched Kenji in the gut with an uppercut attack. Kenji took a step back and kicked Ichirou with a kick to the side of the face and was about to bring his neck to Ichirou’s face, but Ichirou dodged that attack with his hands and pushed Kenji back, who tumbled to the ground.

That was Ichirou’s big chance. Rarely did he get to chance to the top attacker. He climbed fast on Kenji, grabbed the loose muscle shirt he was wearing, and planted his fist into Kenji’s face a couple of times. Though Ichirou was on top, Kenji had more momentum in him to switch their positions and started to punch Ichirou in the head. Ichirou’s body was curled up in this position that it was awkward. Ichirou tried concentrating on blocking Kenji’s fists, but he could feel the pressure of Kenji’s against his ass, more so, Kenji’s cock.

Ichirou could lie, fighting Kenji was a bit exciting, though he did feel himself get excited down there, it wasn’t arousal. The same could go for Kenji. So, Ichirou could feel the hardening member pressing against his ass. That was the distraction. Another punch collided with Ichirou’s face and Kenji pulled away fully from Ichirou, sitting on the ground in front of Ichirou, as the other sat up, wiping the blood from his nose. Ichirou tossed a hand full of rocks at Kenji, and Kenji did the same, they were panting, with a smirk plastered on their faces. The fight was over.

They each knew they could continue fighting and tap into their rage, but this wasn’t a fight with anger as their fuel, this was them letting off steam. The crowd cheered, but seeing as they were done with their fight, they started to part away from the pair, except Kenji’s two buddies Spike and John. Ichirou looked behind him and seen Dameian and Leon making their way over towards him, he was glad. He didn’t want to be alone with these three. Not since the first day of school.

“How about healing us up?” Kenji spoke, spitting blood to the side on the ground. “You’re getting better with your fists.”

“Give me what I want and I’ll do it.” Ichirou cracked his neck to the side, as Dameian and Leon had made to help Ichirou stand up.

“I thought you would have waited for us. We waited for you, till we heard someone say the fight started early.” Leon dusted Ichirou’s pants off.

“Sorry, but I was itching to get a few hits in early.” Ichirou chuckled, as he watched Kenji get up and walk over to him.

Kenji stuffed his hand into his front pocket and pulled out a dime bag of weed, enough for a couple of joints. “Fix and you get your payment.” He narrowed his eyes at Ichirou. Sure, the first time they fought, Kenji offered a dime bag for the healing Ichirou could do, but then the next day, Ichirou asked for a dime bag for his abilities and told Kenji it was payment for the repair. Then Wednesday, Kenji wasn’t around, so now that they had fought, he wanted his payment.

Ichirou raised his left hand to Kenji’s face and closed his eyes, doing the small repairs of tissue and nerves damaged in their little fight. It saved on having a black eye or broken nose all day, waiting for their Vampire healing abilities to kick in. They may have been able to heal with them alone, but Ichirou’s ability was quicker than waiting. He opened his eyes and Kenji placed the dime bag into Ichirou’s hand.

“You are going to cost me big if I have to keep dishing you handouts, Ka-yu,” Kenji complained, with a bored expression on his face.

“You and I both know if we want something done, we have to give something in return.” Ichirou snorted. “Besides, I do what I want when I want, and if I didn’t want to repair your face, I wouldn’t do it at all. Payment or no payment.”

“True.” Kenji clicked his tongue. “Well, see you douchebags around.” He walked off with Spike and John following him and talking quietly to themselves.

Ichirou turned around and walked the other way, with Leon and Dameian on either side of him. “Who won this round?” Dameian asked as Ichirou held his left hand to his face, closing his eyes and healing his face as they walked away. He could do it without having to stop and concentrate now, as long as Dameian and Leon were by his side, so he didn’t walk into anything.

“Dameian, there is never a winner with them. They just stop.” Leon rolled his eyes at the redhead. “Besides, I think if they had a go at it, Ichirou would be the winner.”

Ichirou snorted, opening his eyes. “You guys are naive. If Kenji and I actually fought it would be to the death, we’d both be dead from our injuries. There is no denying that, but what we do is just a simple exercise.” He put his arms around both Leon and Dameian’s necks. “How about we get some lunch?” He asked and the two agreed with him.

After having lunch and hanging out with a few football players, the three made their way to their Language class. Jeremy had caught up with them as they walked into the classroom. Ichirou was minding his own business, when Ryoji stuck out his foot, trying to trip Ichirou, but instead tripped Jeremy. Jeremy caught himself on the floor and got up with Leon’s help.

“What the fuck was that for?” Ichirou growled at Ryoji.

“I didn’t do anything.” Ryoji grinned at Ichirou. “No my fault your friend was clumsy enough to trip in front of my desk.”

Ichirou slammed both his hands down on Ryoji’s desk. Ryoji and his little group of friends always sat by the door to the classroom, even now Darius sat with them, and he wasn’t looking intimidated by Ichirou either. None of them were. Ryan was laughing to himself quietly, with two other guys in the class. The two girls in the group were giving Ichirou sassy looks. He wasn’t Kenji, Ichirou knew that, but they feared Kenji, not Ichirou. Ichirou narrowed his eyes at Ryoji.

“I saw your leg, you were trying to trip us on purpose and I’m getting sick and tired of you trying the same thing over and over again.” Ichirou snarled at Ryoji.

Ryoji chuckled. “What are you going to do about it?” He was testing Ichirou and annoying him at the same time. “I know Kenji takes it easy on you at lunchtime, he likes to toy with you. You are nothing but a weak bitch compared to him.”

“Is that so?” Ichirou smirked. “Then how come Kenji won’t take me on with full strength? It’s because I wiped the floor with him once already, but he has to keep up with appearance around here.” Ichirou didn’t defeat Kenji, they simply fought the first time to the death, and if it weren’t for Kojima and Kazayuki, they would have continued till they were both dead. Though Ichirou felt he had the upper hand in the fight, even with two unusable arms, he could stand, Kenji couldn’t.

“You’re full of shit, Ichirou. Kenji tells me everything about the two of you. You’re weak. You’re his baby bitch.” Ryoji snorted with a grin on his face.

Ichirou was getting annoyed by the grin on Ryoji’s face. “At least I fight my own battles.” Ichirou didn’t give him any time to reply, no one even saw it coming till it happened. Ichirou’s fist landing hard in Ryoji’s face. Of course, that made Ryoji curse out and try to stand up at his desk and grab Ichirou by the shoulders.

The teacher just had to walk in at that moment. “Ryoji! Ichirou! You two cease your actions now!” The teacher had a demanding voice, that both Ryoji and Ichirou released each other. Ichirou had barely a scratch on him, where Ryoji’s nose was bleeding. “Both of you have detention today. Come back here after school.” Ichirou never had detention before, though he turned to stare at the teacher. “I mean it, both of you are being written up for detention, and if you don’t come, there will be consequences for skipping. Now, go to your seat, Ichirou.”

Ichirou rolled his eyes. He walked over to the corner where Dameian, Leon, and Jeremy took up the desks there and he sat hard down in his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. Leon, who was at the desk behind Ichirou, patted his shoulder. “Detentions not all that bad. Better than cleaning the bathrooms, if you skip.”

Ichirou sighed. Well, he didn’t want to be caught cleaning the bathrooms, so he was going to have to go to detention after school. How much worse could his day get, having detention with Ryoji?

It got worse.

Besides having to deal with playing against Kenji in basketball in gym class, when he walked into the Language classroom again, Ryoji was already sitting at the desk he was sitting in earlier, but two new faces were sitting in the classroom in the far row talking to each other. Ichirou remembered who that orange hair boy was, as the teen turn towards him with a grin on his face. Those blue eyes that once showed feared towards Ichirou were menacing now.

Toki, Ichirou repeated in his head. Oh, how he would love to break his nose again. It was elementary school when it happened, but they were older now and Ichirou had more strength behind his punches now, that he was sure he would break Toki’s nose again easily. Toki and his friend, who had dirty blond hair and was an Angel, both had long straight hair and blue eyes that seemed sunken. Toki was wearing a band t-shirt with holes in it, and long sleeve shirt underneath, with black jeans with the knees ripped out of the material. His friend had on a blue jean jacket, probably a t-shirt underneath, with a red flannel shirt tied around his waist and black ripped jeans too. They were looking kind of grungy, though that was probably their style, Ichirou had seen the grunge style out on tour with his father, it was common among rock fans to have a grunge style somewhere among the crowd. He just never took Toki for that style when he knew him in elementary school.

As he walked to go take up a desk, somewhere in the backroom, Ichirou watched badass John walk into the classroom. It didn’t surprise Ichirou. Toki was Fouth-Year, and John being Sixth-Year, this must be the classroom where everyone had detention. John laid his eyes on Ichirou, ignoring Ryoji who had asked him a question, and walked over to Ichirou.

Sitting at the desk in front of Ichirou, he swung his leg over to face Ichirou and lean on Ichirou’s desk. “How’d you get in here?” His brown eyes were gleaming with interest. Ichirou didn’t even give him an answer as he darted his eyes to Ryoji and then back to John. Ichirou thought of reaching his hand out towards John and pulling his eyebrow piercings out. He never thought to do it to Kenji, who had the eyebrow, nose, and lip pierced. Then again John’s piercing hoops bounce as he moved his face and eyebrows a lot. That had to be it, the flashy movement was annoying to Ichirou. “Right on, so you caused the nose bleed.” John smiled like he was best friends with Ichirou and casually talking to Ichirou. “Idiot probably deserved it.”

Ichirou raised a brow. John thought Ryoji was an idiot and was glad about Ryoji’s nose damage? Either this was to get Ichirou to open up to John for Kenji’s benefit or John actually didn’t like Ryoji. The first time he met John he called Ryoji annoying, but Ichirou figured it was front, just like now. He couldn’t trust him, not after he held him down for Kenji’s enjoyment.

Ichirou’s eyes went from John to the door as Kenji and Spike walked in. They all had Gym class together, Ryoji skipped the shower, Ichirou only washed his body not getting his hair wet, but it was clear Kenji and Spike had longer showers. Kenji’s auburn hair was wet but toweled dried. Spike’s pure white hair, looked more grey as it didn’t even look like he dried his hair, just shook his head a few times and called it good.

Kenji smirked seeing Ichirou, again Ryoji was ignored, as Kenji strolled up to one aisle and Spike took the next. Kenji slid the desk beside Ichirou’s and sat right beside Ichirou. Spike sat at the desk on the other side of Ichirou but didn’t move it as he leaned forward, closer to Ichirou.

“If I’d have known you’d be here. I would have showered quicker.” Kenji clicked his tongue. “I heard what happened between you and Ryoji, didn’t think you’d get caught though.”

Ichirou slouched down in the desk he was sitting at. Today was not his day. He looked to his side, he felt other eyes on him so he looked towards Toki and his friend, who was scowling in Ichirou’s direction. “It wasn’t my intention to get caught, but Ryoji just couldn’t let it be,” Ichirou mumbled more to himself and looked down at his desk.

“That sounds about right,” John said, smiling his fangs showing off.

Kenji put his arm around the back of Ichirou’s chair, leaning in. “You know something, you owe me for taking care of Ryoji. I laid him out pretty good in front of his little boyfriend, how about you do something for me in return?”

Ichirou glanced at Kenji, before closing his eyes. “I’m not doing you any favors. I could have handled him myself, but you took it upon yourself to deal with him. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be over there with him, plotting his revenge on me?”

Spike let out a burst of cackling laughter with his menacing grin. “Oh, boy. You really don’t know us, do you?”

“I actually rather not know you guys at all.” Ichirou resorted back at Spike, who stopped laughing and gave Ichirou a deathly glare.

“Now, now, boys.” Kenji waved his hand at Spike. “We are in detention to serve our time, not add more time. I rather not spend all my after-school adventures in detention.”

Ichirou snorted. “So, you must have gotten caught doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing to end up here, am I right?”

Kenji looked over cross the way towards Toki and his friend, who were engaging in their conversation. “Punks like those two deserve to be put in their place. Last year they weren’t bad, but now that they are in Fourth-Year, they think they rule over me. I had to show them a thing or two, though Spike and John held them back as I delivered a couple of gut punches, teachers caught us.” He relaxed back in his seat. “I’m not allowed over on the other side of the school because I am only Third-Year, but I don’t care.”

Ichirou smirked. “You had to get your goons here to hold them back for you? That’s a laugh. The greatly feared Kenji had to have help.”

“Fuck off.” Kenji spat at Ichirou. “I could have handled them on my own, but when you got friends, use them.” Kenji looked at John and Spike, who both nodded their heads in agreement with Kenji’s words.

The teacher walked in as Ichirou was shaking his head at Kenji’s words. The teacher was a bigger buffed out built Vampire teacher, one Ichirou had never seen around. He probably taught on the other side of the school, where the Fourth and Sixth Year students were taught.

“Alright, you hoodlums. I have decided that since I’m in charge of you guys, we are going outside today. So, get to the locker room and change into your P.E clothes.” The teacher addressed them with dominance and it was clear he had somewhere else to be rather than watching them. Everyone in the class got up and they followed the teacher to the boy’s change room. Ichirou was glad that his locker was the farthest from the others, in the fifth stall of lockers, right near the showers. He undressed quickly and got into his baggy gym clothes, an oversize white t-shirt with an A on the right shoulder and a size too big basketball style shorts that he pulled the drawstring on to tighten up. He walked out of the change room into the gym, after following Ryoji and Spike out. Now they were talking to Ryoji as if Ichirou didn’t exist. That’s was perfectly fine with him, he’d rather they not talk to him at all.

Once Toki and his friend came out, they were the last ones out of the change room, the teacher gestured them to follow him. Ichirou saw where they were headed, to the gym equipment storage room. They stopped inside the room when the teacher stopped. “I usually don’t do this, but I am recruiting you all on the football team, whether you like it or not. Grabbed a helmet that fits snug and shoulder pads, you will have to get your parents to supply you with the rest of your gear. I have already added you all on the rooster, you are all officially on the team. We are still holding tryouts, but they are mainly for finding your position on the team as of now.”

Ichirou stepped back. “There is no fucking way I am joining the football team. Count me out.” He looked at the teacher with disgust on his face.

“This isn’t something you can just walk away from, son. I’m forcing you all on the team. Hoodlums need disciplinary action and that’s what it is for all of you. I don’t know much about you or the other First Year kid here, but these five others are nothing but trouble for this school.” The teacher pointed to them. “Need to discipline you now before you turn out like these guys. Grab a helmet and shoulder pads now.”

With such force in his voice, Ichirou stood where he was, as he watched Ryoji and Spike grab their gear, John and Toki grabbed theirs and Toki’s friend and Kenji went next. Though Ichirou did move a muscle, Kenji came back with an extra helmet and shoulder pads and pushed the gear into Ichirou’s chest. “You’re on the team, even if you hate it. If you suck bad enough you might get the boot. Though, it’ll just show you how much better I am at playing football than you are.” His voice sounded disgusted with this idea, though he smirked when he was thinking he was better than Ichirou.

It was clear Kenji didn’t like this any more than Ichirou, but he had also been in this school longer than Ichirou and probably knew walking away from this teacher was bad news. Ichirou took the gear Kenji handed to him and they followed the teacher out of the storage room to a door that leads outside from the gym. There Ichirou spotted the football field and there were already eleven other students on the field, warming up with another buff looking teacher. Ichirou was already regretting this, this day just got worse.


	53. Chapter 53

A whistle is blown and Ichirou flinches internally. They were outside, so the whistle wasn’t harming his eardrums but still, he had to flinch from it. He had just spent his last class, Gym class, listening to the teacher blowing his whistle. Now, he was outside, though he should be spending it inside for detention, the teacher they ended up having was the head coach of the football team and he had just recruited all the kids in detention to the football team, unwillingly of course.

“Alright, boys gather around, take a knee.” The bluff looking teacher shouted as the rest of the team, all eleven members came in and took a knee in front of him. Ichirou was among the others, who just stood there. “I have some good news, I have just recruited more team players to the team, so that means, not every single one of you will have to play both offense and defense.”

Ichirou was, of course, the only one not wearing his helmet or shoulder pads, so the team of football players was questioning what the teacher was doing. Especially since Leon, Dameian, and Jeremy knew he had detention. He was standing there, not looking impressed, he actually wanted to drop the gear and take off running right now. Though, he would look weak and pathetic, especially to Kenji, who told Ichirou that he was going to be a better football player than him. Well, Ichirou wouldn’t stand down from that challenge.

“That being said, I know the recruits will be difficult to work with at first, but that’s why they are here. For discipline, football teaches you. Let’s give these guys a round of applause.” The teacher clapped his hands, as the other football players gave weak claps, not so enthusiastic. “Alright, so I’ll go with introductions. I am your Head Coach, Mr. Lackey.” The teacher, or rather Head Coach introduced himself to the seven detention students. “Over there is Mr. Hanson, your Assistant Coach.” He pointed to the other buff built teacher, who gave a wave of his hand. Both of them were Vampires, and were built like brick walls probably, thought Ichirou.

“I won’t introduce you to the team members, as that will be your job to get friendly with them and learn their names yourselves, but I will introduce you to them.” The Head Coach spoke as he walked over to the seven of them. “We have John.” He slapped his hand on John’s helmet. How he knew who John was with the helmet on, Ichirou wouldn’t know. “Spike.” Another slap, though this time on Spike’s helmet and he continued. “Kenji.” Slap. “Toki.” Slap. “Kraven.” Slap. “Which one of you is Ryoji?” The Head Coach actually didn’t know who Ichirou was or who Ryoji was, but knew they were First Year students. Ryoji raised his hand. “Ryoji.” Slap.

The Head Coach walked up to Ichirou. “I suggest you get your gear on now, or I will slap your head.” He smiled, slightly at Ichirou. Ichirou sighed and put on the shoulder pads, followed by the helmet. “And Ichirou.” Slap. Ichirou adjusted the helmet on his head from just that slap. “Now, you know who we have recruited, I hope you will all accept them as team members and show them how it’s done.”

“Yes, sir!” The whole team shouted and got up off the ground as the Assistant Coach called them all back to doing exercises.

The Head Coach looked at the seven he had in front of him. “We have a game coming up on Saturday. I suggest you get your gear by then. I have a list of items you will need to buy for practice and your games. I also have a permission slip for you to take to your parents and have them sign off on it, so you can get on the bus with us and leave for the game on the mainland. I want you all to have everything by Saturday and the permission slip handed to me tomorrow. My office is in the gym, so just leave it there before the end of school tomorrow. Is that understood?” The seven of them either just stood there or shrugged their shoulders. “I can’t hear you. Is that understood?”

The seven of them all seemed to mentally sigh to themselves before shouting. “Yes, sir!”

“Go, now get out there and get some exercises in before I push you all to your limit.” The Head Coach pointed to the other members of the team and the seven of them shuffled over to the field where the Assistant Coach was telling the players what to do and counting out.

It was clear to see who was enthusiastic about being there and who wasn’t. The eleven football players, wearing their football gear were doing exactly what they were told and the seven that had just join were doing things half-assed. There was no care for being there.

Once warm-up exercises were done, the training was set in play. The Head Coach blew the whistle and everyone turned around. “Alright, line up, and let’s get the agility training in action.” The field was already set up with hurdles and weaving poles. There were step-over dummies and a low chute. Of course, the football players all went first to show the others how it was done, this gave a little break to talk to each other, till it was their turn as the whistle blew when the next player had to run through.

Ichirou was standing there by himself when Dameian and Leon came up to him. “You should have just accepted our invitation when we asked you before. Now, you are being forced on the team.” Leon chuckled as he removed his mouthguard.

“Piss off.” Ichirou cursed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not happy about this.”

“Clearly.” Dameian pushed Ichirou in the shoulder. “You haven’t even done up your gear.”

Leon chuckled. “Let me help you with that and then we can talk.” He helped Ichirou get situated in his shoulder pads as Dameian helped Ichirou fasten his helmet strap around his chin. “You really going to join the team, or are you going to act like you suck big time?”

“How far would acting get me?” Ichirou smirked, as Leon tighten up the shoulder pads to fit on his body properly.

“Well, I mean, you’d have to be pretty bad on your feet, tripping a lot.” Leon laughed. “Come on, just show the coaches how good you are. I mean, you are good, right?”

Before Ichirou could open his mouth, Kenji came over and slapped Ichirou on the back of the helmet. “This kid ain’t good. He sucks at everything he does.” Kenji smirked. “I mean, he’s only good at one thing, maybe two things, but he’s no athlete. Ain’t that right, Ka-yu?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ichirou turned around to face Kenji. “You don’t even want to be on the team either, and don’t kid yourself. I know you don’t want to be here.”

Kenji nodded his head. “You are right. I don’t like sports and never played any. Though, if this is going to get me out of detention, maybe for the rest of the year, why not?” He seemed to have an idea of what joining the team could do for him. “Besides, the old man might enjoy seeing his boy run circles around these butt-slapping freaks.”

Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest again. “His boy?” He looked at him with a serious face. He knew his father did enjoy watching football games, it was always a loud party at Mizuki’s when they watched the season’s games when his father lived there. Though, Mizuki was more of a basketball fan, so they watched both sports. Threw small parties, but it was always the football parties that were the loudest.

“Yeah, his boy. I’m his boy, not you.” Kenji pushed Ichirou's shoulder with one hand, making Ichirou step back from the force.

“Are you seriously challenging me, Kenji?” Ichirou was being dead serious and Kenji nodded his head. “Fuck. I’ll do it. If it’ll make my father happy.”

“The old man is going to be fucking happy to hear about this.” Kenji chuckled. “You actually might get laid. Then it’d be a real celebration for your virgin cock.”

Ichirou flipped Kenji off and walked away from the other, he was fuming. Kenji knew shit about him, though that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. He calmed down as he got in line with the other football players, as the other detention students were standing back. Ichirou kept his eyes on the course, seeing how it was done before it was his turn. Leon and Dameian stood behind him in line. Leon patted Ichirou’s shoulder pad. “Go get’em, tiger.” He teased before Ichirou walked up to the line and got into the starting position.

“Trip. Trip. Trip.” Kenji was chanting out loud, along with John and Spike and somehow, Toki and Ryoji were joining in the chant.

Ichirou took a deep breath in and out, cleared his mind, and pushed all the noise they were making out of his head before the whistle blew and Ichirou took off on the course, doing exactly what he had seen the other players do just before him. Under the low chute, skipping over hurdles, weaving through the poles, sidestepping over step-over dummies. He did the course at the same pace as everyone else before him.

“Wow, impressive!” The Assistant Coach clapped at Ichirou. “Have you done anything like this before?”

Ichirou shook his head. “No, the first time. I’m just observant.” He straight up told the coach who looked, even more, impress at Ichirou’s achievement of completing the course the first time around with no slip-ups, though Kenji saw this and pushes himself to the front of the line to go next and he ran the course without any slip-ups too.

Ichirou had gone to stand near the others but didn’t engage with them, as Kenji came up to him. “See, you aren’t the only golden child.” Kenji teased. “I mean, it must be in our blood as Vampires to be more athletic than humans.”

“Right,” Ichirou said nodding his head. It had to be that, though as they watched the others, Dameian made a mistake in weaving and Spike just walked the whole course, not doing anything remotely to what was needed to be done. Ichirou had to chuckle at that, especially when Spike came to the group and Kenji was getting in his face about showing some effort.

“Great job, boys. Now, on to the next.” The Head coach gestured to them to follow. There was a heavily built stand with a padded dumb on the front of it and sled-like railings underneath of it. Ichirou was confused by what this contraption actually was. “Now, this is our very own man-made blocking sled or tackle dummy. Whichever you prefer to call it. Why it’s our own man-made equipment is because in previous years we used the actual tackle dummies and many students broke them. Now, with reinforcements done, it’s heavier and sturdy. For the recruits, this is the first time we have done this in practice, so we will let our more experienced players go first to show you how it’s done. Hitsu, you’re up.”

Hitsu walked over, standing a few feet away from the dummy, crouched over. The Head Coach blew the whistle once he was up on the stand looking down at Hitsu. He blew the whistle and Hitsu dash fast and hard into the dummy, barely moving the whole sled a full foot. The Assistant Coach measured a line from where the stand was originally marked off, wrote down the number, and placed the marker close to the stand once again. “Good shot, Hitsu! Almost close to beating your farthest mark.” Hitsu gave himself a fist pump and stood back.

“Kojima, you’re up next.” The Head Coach called out and Kojima moved past a few players and got into the ready stance, crouched down low and ready to attack. The whistle blew and Kojima dashed forward, slamming his body into the dummy, pulled the stand back at least two feet. The Assistant Coach was there to give a quick measurement. “Impressive as always, Kojima.” Kojima jogged over to stand beside Hitsu and the Head Coach continued to call every player one at a time. Players like Lyle and Leon, who were human, didn’t even budge the stand at all but were given praise for their stance and effort.

That’s when Ichirou noticed something, the Head Coach was actually recording something from the stand. With a small device attached to the stand, he was imputing data or something into it, as he called out the next name on the list. He didn’t know what kind of data he was recording, but it was clear that even if someone didn’t move the stand he was praising them for their effort or strength. Ichirou tilted his head as he watched more closely the next time around.

“What are you so interested in?” Kenji came up to Ichirou. “Are you checking out the Head Coach? Thinking of sucking his cock for a position on the team?”

Ichirou growled low in his throat. “No, trying to figure out what he is doing up there.”

Kenji shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask your good friends over there?” Kenji pointed to the group of football players. “All I know is the thing weighs over six hundred pounds, and don’t go ramming into with a lot of force your first time. Guys have popped out their shoulders doing that.”

“Where did you hear that?” Ichirou looked at Kenji, why was he being cheeky yet friendly with him right now? Spending this much time together, Ichirou was sure they would be fighting it out by now.

Kenji chuckled. “Lyle told me before he went up. He explained it to me, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up of beating Kojima’s record. Kojima is the strongest on the team and he can push it two feet every time, no matter how many times he does it in a row. They actually had to ban Kojima from practicing on it too much. He pushed it from one end of the field to the next.”

“Are you thinking of beating Kojima at his own game?” Ichirou asked, a smirk appearing on his face as he was understanding Kenji’s motive.

Kenji put his arm around Ichirou’s neck and placed his helmet against his. “What if I told you, I actually wanted to join the football team when I first came to this school, but because Kojima was the big guy on campus, he bans me from joining. I think it would be a great stress reliever, running and slamming into guys for the fun of it.” Kenji chuckled. “Though, I have zero experience.”

“This is why you are being so friendly to me?” Ichirou crossed his arms over his chest. Kenji had his own reasons for joining and was just motivating Ichirou to have fun with him. Though, it was a sneaky trick.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Kenji shrugged his shoulders. “It would be another stress reliever for me. Having our little rounds is great, but sometimes I want a bit more, you know what I mean?” Yeah, Ichirou did know what he meant. Ichirou was just enjoying their little fights, though he did wish for more bloody action, they had promised Kazayuki they wouldn’t go that far again.

“Over six hundred pounds, you say?” Ichirou looked at Kenji, who nodded slightly. “Then don’t go popping out your shoulder, show them us mainlanders are stronger than they think,” Ichirou smirked and Kenji smirked right back at him, the bumped arms together before turning their attention on the stand, waiting for their names to be called.

“Alright, recruits. First, Toki.” The Head Coach imputed something into whatever he was using. “Hope you were watching, now on the whistle.” Toki stepped up to the target and waited.

“You gotta crouch down, like this.” The Assistant Coach showed Toki what he was talking about, getting down low. “You got it?” Toki nodded his head. Ichirou couldn’t help but chuckle softly at Toki.

The whistle was blown and Toki got up and slammed himself against the dummy. “Alright, that’s your first time. We’ll have to practice with you on your stance and follow through.” The Assistant Coach told Toki, jotting something down on the board he had.

“Kraven, you are up now.” The Head Coach said, again, he was imputing what he needed on the small device. “On the whistle.” Kraven walked up to the dummy and got down, then the whistle was blown and Kraven went for the lowest part of the dummy, almost slipping off the dummy.

“Good form. Need practice on how to take down.” The Assistant Coach was trying to keep a positive attitude with him. He slapped his back gently and explained the areas he should have gone for, talking low that the other didn’t hear.

The Head Coach sighed. He looked kind of disappointed in the results so far. “Alright, John. Let’s see what you can do.” John turned and winked at the others waiting and gave a thumbs up and got into starting position. The Head Coach blows the whistle and John slammed his shoulder right into the dummy, he moved the stand an inch if that. He backed off and rubbed his shoulder under the shoulder pads he was wearing.

Ichirou realized something, the others weren’t throwing their shoulders into the dummy and hugging the dummy. As Ryoji was called up, Ichirou walked over to Kenji and grabbed Kenji by the shoulder pads nearly under his arms, this caught off Kenji off guard and he was about to swing his fist. “Wait. I’m showing you what to do. Don’t throw your shoulder into the dummy, grip here, and push.” Ichirou quickly explained, his helmet up against Kenji’s helmet. “Got it?”

Kenji grabbed Ichirou right where Ichirou had grabbed him. “Like this?” Ichirou smirked and released Kenji and Kenji did the same. Ichirou took a few steps back. Seems everyone had stopped to see if the two were about to fight, even the coaches, but when Ichirou back off, they continued.

Ryoji had gone and didn’t budge it, but he was rubbing his shoulder as well under his shoulder pad. “That’s okay, we can work on your delivery.” The Assistant coach explained as he walked up to Ryoji to check him out, but Ryoji was fine, with no injury.

“Alright, next in line is Kenji.” The Head Coach called out, and Kenji looked back at Ichirou and winked. Ichirou shook his head. Kenji walked up to the dummy and crouched down and looked up at the dummy. The whistle was blown and just like Ichirou told him, Kenji attacked the dummy and pushed it back a little over a foot. Better than Hitsu had done. Ichirou smirked. He was sure if Kenji did that, he could copy that.

“Whoa. You’re a natural, Kenji.” The Assistant Coach was impressed by Kenji, and he took a measurement. “Over a foot.” He looked up at the Head Coach.

“Quick hitter. Kenji, you have power, but if you stick with us, I think I know the perfect position for you, based on what you have shown.” The Head Coach looked down at Kenji and it seemed the frown on his face gave Kenji a slight smile. “Alright, Spike.”

Spike was tall and had the muscles to go with his height, Ichirou noted. He was definitely in the run with Hitsu and Kojima. He looked over at Ichirou. “Under the arms, right?” Ichirou blink and nodded his head. Seemed Kenji had told Spike how to hit and was just getting his confirmation from Ichirou. This was going to be interesting to see how he was going to match up. Ichirou figured Spike wasn’t that bright and was secretly a psycho killer. He took his position, getting low enough, and wide enough, the whistle blew and he dashed hard into the stand and pushed it back the farthest that even the coaches had seen. Spike stepped away, rolling his shoulder as the Assistant Coach took the measurement, and looked up at the Head Coach.

“Three feet.” The Head Coach was surprised by the Assistant Coach’s words. “Spike, I think the Head Coach could use your power and strength, though you will have to learn to tone it down. We hope you will stay around.”

Ichirou huffed, that was something impressive. No wonder he struggled to release his arm from his grasp. He knew he was next and now he waited for the coaches to get over their shock and call Ichirou over. He was sure he could do this. Kenji did it with ease and didn’t look winded, so it should be no problem for him. They were similar in strength, as far as Ichirou knew.

“Ichirou, you’re up.” The Head Coach called out and Ichirou walked up to the dummy, got low on the ground, and looked up at the dummy, he knew what he needed to do. The whistle blew and Ichirou gritted his teeth and dashed hard into the dummy, taking a few steps, before Ichirou released the dummy and took a few steps back that he took when he hit the dummy.

The Assistant Coach looked impressed, he took the measurement. “First time for everything. Over two feet.” The Assistant Coach nodded his head with a grin on his face. It seemed Ichirou had pleased him as he looked up at the Head Coach, who was looking at the small device, a calculating look on his face.

“You’re strength doesn’t match up with what you did. You hit lighter than even John and yet you pushed farther than John.” The Head Coach looked down at Ichirou. “I want to test something with you. Kojima, come here.” Kojima walked over, arms crossed over his broad chest, not looking impressed. “You’ve done this before. Punch you the dummy, to make sure it still calculating the strength.” Kojima pushed Ichirou aside and stepped up to the dummy, winding back and throwing his fist at the dummy.”Hmm, that accurate.” The Head Coach looked down at Ichirou. “I want you to punch the dummy right in the same spot Kojima did, and I mean hit it hard.”

Ichirou sighed. “Kenji.” He called out to the other. “Piss me off.” The Head Coach was confused by Ichirou’s words.

Kenji looked at Ichirou and walked over to him. “Why do I have to piss you off? Are you really weak unless you are angry? Man, you really are a baby bitch like I thought. No wonder you take it like a bitch.” That was enough to trigger some of Ichirou’s anger issues and he threw a punch at the dummy.

The Head Coach looked at the small device. “That’s accurate for a hit, seems something was mistaken when you attacked.”

“No, I just used strength over force.” Ichirou gritted his teeth. Kenji really knew how to trigger his anger right. No one knew what Kenji did to him, but Spike and John and the way Kenji said his words rekindle that fire within Ichirou. He couldn’t believe he dropped his guard around Kenji, he was going to have to watch it when Kenji got friendly with him. Ichirou turned around and shoulder checked Kenji, hitting him pretty hard.

“Fuck was that for?” Kenji shouted at Ichirou and stepped towards Ichirou and grabbed his shoulder and turned Ichirou around towards him. “You fucking asked for it.” Kenji slammed his helmet against Ichirou’s helmet.

“I know what I asked for, but it reminded me why I fucking hate you.” Ichirou pushed Kenji back with his hands. “I can’t believe I let you talk to me, you fucking two-faced asshole.”

“Oh, for fuck sake.” Kenji dashed at Ichirou, doing what he had done to the dummy, but this time was different. He actually picked Ichirou up and turned him to slam him down on his back.

Ichirou was winded for a second and caught his breath and swung his leg hard against Kenji’s knees, making Kenji topple over on the grass and Ichirou went to roll over and knee Kenji, but he was pulled back by Kojima.

“What is wrong with you, Ichirou?” Kojima yelled at him. “You can’t go attacking Kenji here.” Ichirou struggles to get free, as Spike and John rushed over to Kenji to see if he was fine, which he was and pushed them away from him.

“I guess that leaves you with four fucking inches now. Keep pushing and I’ll take more.” Kenji got up on his own, his eyes were narrowing towards Ichirou.

Ichirou growled out and slammed his helmet back into Kojima’s helmet, which gave him the escape and he was able to turn around. He pushed Kojima away from him, he snapped his helmet off and threw it on the ground as he headed back to the school, as he was untying the shoulder pads off and tossed them too, to the ground. He hated himself, he needed to get away.


End file.
